TRANSITION | Forming the next government
04 August 2008
Frequently Asked Questions on the Electoral College
Electoral system designed by framers of the U.S. Constitution
What is the Electoral College?
As prescribed in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. presidents are not elected directly by the people but instead by a group of designated citizens known as electors. This group of electors makes up the Electoral College. The process for selecting electors varies from state to state, but usually the political parties nominate electors at state party conventions or by a vote of the party's central committee. On Election Day the voters in each state, by casting votes for president and vice president, actually are voting for the set of electors who will vote for the voters' preferred candidate. The electors cast their votes in their states on December 15, and Congress officially counts the results in January.
See "The Electoral College"
How does the Electoral College work?
Each state elects the number of representatives to the Electoral College that is equal to its number of senators – two from each state – plus its number of delegates in the House of Representatives. The District of Columbia, which has no voting representation in Congress, has three Electoral College votes. There are 538 electors in the Electoral College; 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election. 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 number of electoral votes. Each state casts one vote.
See "U.S. Elections Frequently Asked Questions"
How can a candidate win the most votes but lose the presidency?
Every state except Nebraska and Maine award all of their Electoral votes to the winner of the state's popular vote. It is possible that a candidate can win the majority of the Electoral votes without receiving the majority of votes cast nationwide (the popular vote). This has happened three times in U.S. history, most recently in 2000. This typically happens when the Electoral College winner wins some states by narrow margins and loses others by large margins. This is one reason some advocate abolishing the Electoral College. Others argue the Electoral College is important to ensure smaller states' voices are heard.
See "Has the Electoral College Outlived its Usefulness?"
What is a battleground state?
Many states have a history of their voters consistently favoring one party, but voters in battleground states, also called swing states, are so evenly divided in their political allegiances that statewide support switches from one party to another. Presidential candidates will focus much of their campaign efforts on winning those states. There likely will be about a dozen swing states in the 2008 election, including states that are often political battlegrounds such as Florida and New Mexico. New swing states might emerge in 2008, such as Virginia, which has supported Republican presidential candidates for decades but has favored Democrats in recent state and local races.
See "Electoral College System Affects U.S. Campaign Strategies"
