How does the Electoral College elect the president?
The Electoral College system gives each state the same number of electoral votes as it has members of Congress. The District of Columbia is allocated three electoral votes. There are a total of 538 votes in the Electoral College; a candidate for president must get 270 to win (a simple majority). All but two states have a winner-take-all system, in which the candidate who gets the most popular votes in the state is allocated all of the state’s electoral votes. The electors usually gather in their state capitals in December to cast their votes. The electoral votes are then sent to Washington, where they are counted in the presence of a joint session of Congress in January. If no presidential candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution provides for the presidential election to be decided by the House of Representatives. In such situations, the House selects the president by majority vote, choosing from the three candidates who received the greatest
Related Questions
- Why does the House of Representatives choose the President in the event of an Electoral College tie and not the Senate, or a combination of both?
- Who elects the Vice President if no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the electoral college?
- Which month are the official Electoral College votes for president cast and counted?
