What is the Electoral College?

The Electoral College (EC) is a constitutional mechanism, better described as a process. It is used to elect the President and Vice-President. The EC was introduced as a compromise between a popular voter by citizens and a vote solely by Congress. It consists of 538 electors who are allocated to states based on the size of the state’s congressional delegation – so one for each Senator and member of the HoR. This means that the minimum number of votes is 3, for example in Wyoming, and that states will have votes in rough correlation to their population, for example the larger state California has 55 votes. When voters vote for the President, they actually vote to instruct the electors for their state. Most states have a ‘winner takes all’ system whereby the candidate who wins the most number of votes (a plurality) will win all the EC votes and the electors will therefore vote for their chosen candidate. For example, if the Democratic nominee wins in California, they receive all 55 votes. Maine and Nebraska are the only states who use Proportional Representation and divide their EC votes using the Congressional District Method. The Minimum number of required votes is 270 to win, but if there is at deadlock at 269 votes, the House will choose the President and the Senate will chose the Vice President.