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Established in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, the Electoral College is the system we use to elect our President.
Each of the 50 states has as many electoral votes as it has Representatives and Senators in Congress. Of the 538 total electoral votes, a candidate must win at least 270 to become President.
When you go to the polls to cast your ballot in the presidential election, you are actually not voting for your preferred candidate. Rather, you are voting for “electors” that represent the candidate’s party.
Each state’s popular vote is used to select a slate of electors, who then cast their ballots for a presidential candidate. Afterwards, a joint session of Congress meets to count the electoral votes and verify the results of the election. Once the winner has been decided, the next President and Vice President are inaugurated on January 20.
We hope this clarifies misconceptions about the Electoral College and helps you better understand the system we use to elect our chief executive. If you would like to learn more about our government’s structure and democratic processes, we encourage you to explore Civicly’s abundant content areas and unique learning features.
Happy Learning!
The Civicly Team
