How does the Electoral College work?
About this video
The video explains how the Electoral College works. Each state gets electors equal to its number of senators and representatives, for 538 electors in total including three for Washington DC, and a candidate needs 270 to win. Voters choose a slate of electors pledged to a candidate, making it an indirect election.
You'll be able to
- explain how many electors a state gets.
- explain where the totals 538 and 270 come from.
- explain why the presidential election is indirect.
Key words
- Electoral College
- The process in Article II for choosing the president through electors; the term itself isn't in the Constitution.
- Elector
- A person chosen to cast a vote for president on behalf of a state.
- Slate of electors
- A group of electors pledged to a particular candidate.
- Simple majority
- More than half of the votes; 270 out of 538 electoral votes.
- Indirect election
- An election where voters choose representatives who then choose the winner.
Transcript
The Electoral College is really interesting because the text of the Constitution doesn't actually use the term Electoral College, but it is a reference to Article II's process for selecting the president. Each state gets a number of electors that is equal to its number of senators and representatives. In total there are 538 electors, and it numerically represents the 435 members of the House of Representatives, the 100 senators, and a three Electoral College votes that are allocated to Washington DC. In order to win the presidency, a candidate has to get 270 Electoral College votes, which is a simple majority. When people vote for the president, they're not voting for the president directly. Instead, what they're doing is they're voting for a slate of electors that is pledged to a particular candidate.
That's our system of indirect election of the president and not a system of direct election.
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