How does the electoral college work?

Answer 1

Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution;

Each state shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

Amendment XII of the Constitution of the United States of America, ratified June 15, 1804, states;

"The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;-- The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted;-- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and the majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice."

Answer 2

Well, it is my understanding that there are so many for each state based on the population of that state and the number of representatives. This is to keep things fair for smaller states too. I think that it is two plus a certain amount based on population and districts.

The popular vote of that state says which way ALL of the electoral votes will go for that state. This is why we have red states and blue states. That is just the way that the vote USUALLY goes in that state. I think there are 538 (the number that wikipedia gives, but we know they aren't always trustworthy) electoral votes. A candidate needs over 270 electoral votes for the Presidency.

Thus, the popular vote is not always the deciding factor.

I got the feeling that you already knew all of this or I would give you a link for your research. You just wanted to see if we knew.

Answer 3

Each state gets one electoral vote equal to the number of representatives they have in the House. Florida has 21 or so for example based on their population, whereas Wyoming only has three. The Forefathers concept was that the President should not NECESSARILY be the person who gets the most votes overall, but the person who represents the broadest interests of the entire nation. For example, if you look at 2000, popular vote loses, electoral wins, but if you break down the popular vote by COUNTY across the nation, 64% of counties nationwide went for Bush. A greater part of the land-mass of the US wanted Bush, is one way to look at it, he had broader support, even as Gore had more individual votes due to the large urban areas in California, Chicago, New York, etc. It actually works to everyone's advantage...for example, without the electoral college, candidates could and would just completely ignore Montana's interests because they would be completely irrelevant electorally. Instead, if Al Gore could have only gained the support of the ONE super small (by population) state, he would have been President.

Answer 4

The electoral college is an antiquated system that should be abolished. That is why we are stuck with the Shrub as president. Each state, based on population, is assigned a number of electoral votes. It is electoral votes, not the number of actual votes a candidate gets that determines the election. Gore won more votes then the Shrub did. ELectoral votes made sense when the nation was first founded because it took so long for the state representatives to get to the capital to place their votes. These days, it makes NO sense.

Answer 5

Each party nominates a set of electors who will presumably vote for that party's candidate when the Electoral College gathers in the various state capitals on the Monday following the third Wednesday in December. When you vote for a Presidential candidate, you're actually voting for those electors. Each state gets the same number of electors as it has Congressmen (Senators + Representatives).

For most states, the highest vote-getter in each state wins all of the electoral votes for that state, or more accurately, his/her slate of electors is elected (in Maine and Nebraska, it goes by congressional district, with the overall winner getting the two extra votes that correspond to the Senate). First one to 270 wins (there are 538 electoral votes, corrresponding to 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, and 3 votes for DC).

Answer 6

Actually, I think if you'll go back and study the Last Presidential Election, you'll see it doesn't really work. But just Google - search "electoral College" and you'll find lot's of info there. I provided the link below.

Answer 7

Before the elections each state party chooses a delegate to represent them and their state. So who ever wins the majority vote in that state cast the electoral vote for that candidate for that state . This gives each state equal voting power.

Answer 8

It determines the votes for the presidential election.

Answer 9

Not well,sometimes..but does allow for smaller dogs to have a louder bark !(voting power)