What is the Electoral College?
Ohio’s delegation to the Electoral College certify their votes during the voting ceremony in the Columbus statehouse in December 2004. © AP Images/Will ShillingAccording to the Constitution, presidents are elected by the Electoral College, composed of electors from each state who represent the will of their state’s voters. Each state’s group of electors is equal in number to its Congressional representation. Typically all of a state’s electors cast their votes for the candidate who won a plurality of votes in their state. A candidate must receive at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win.
The Electoral College, administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is not a place, it is a process that began as part of the original design of the U.S. Constitution. The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. The people of the United States vote for the electors who then vote for the President. Read more about how the terms “Elector” and “Electoral College” came into usage.
The Electoral College is the mechanism by which the president and the vice president of the United States are chosen. When an individual American votes in a presidential election he or she is actually voting for an elector—an individual who will cast a ballot on his/her behalf in the election that actually chooses the president. The system is analogous to electing a second Congress, which has the sole duty of picking a president.
