What is the Electoral College and how does the US use it to elect presidents?

A look astatine the Electoral College and however it works, arsenic Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, vie for the White House connected Election Day, Nov. 5:

What is the Electoral College?

The Electoral College is simply a 538-member assemblage that elects a president. The framers of the Constitution acceptable it up to springiness much powerfulness to the states and arsenic a compromise to debar having Congress determine the winner.

Each state’s electors ballot for the campaigner who won the fashionable ballot successful that state. The runner-up gets thing — but successful Nebraska and Maine wherever elector votes are awarded based connected legislature territory and statewide results. To triumph the presidency, a campaigner indispensable unafraid 270 electoral votes — a bulk of the 538 imaginable votes.

How is it antithetic from the fashionable vote?

Under the Electoral College system, much value is fixed to a azygous ballot successful a tiny authorities than to the ballot of idiosyncratic successful a ample state, starring to outcomes astatine times that person been astatine likelihood with the fashionable vote.

It besides affects however candidates campaign. Because the result is astir definite successful solidly Republican states and solidly Democratic states, candidates thin to absorption astir of their efforts connected a fistful of plaything states that person divided their votes successful caller elections.

How galore electoral votes does each authorities have?

Electors are allocated based connected however galore representatives a authorities has successful the House of Representatives, positive its 2 senators. The District of Columbia gets three, contempt the information that the location to Congress has nary ballot successful Congress.

California has the astir electoral votes astatine 54, followed by Texas with 40 and Florida with 30. Pennsylvania with 19 electoral votes is the largest prize of the statesmanlike battlegrounds, followed by Georgia and North Carolina with 16 each.

Who are the electors?

It varies by state, but often the electors are picked by authorities parties. Members of Congress cannot service arsenic electors.

How and erstwhile are the votes counted?

After authorities predetermination officials certify their elections, electors conscionable successful their idiosyncratic states — ne'er arsenic 1 assemblage — to certify the election. This year, that volition hap connected Dec. 17.

If the 2 candidates person a tied fig of votes, the predetermination is thrown to the House, wherever each state’s legislature delegation gets 1 vote. That has happened lone twice, successful 1801 and 1825. Once a state’s electors person certified the vote, they nonstop a certificate to Congress. Congress past formally counts and certifies the ballot astatine a peculiar league connected Jan. 6. The vice president presides arsenic the envelopes for each authorities are opened and verified.

Can lawmakers object?

Lawmakers tin entity to a state’s results during the legislature certification, arsenic respective Republicans did aft the 2020 election. On Jan. 6, 2021, the House and Senate some voted to cull GOP objections to the Arizona and Pennsylvania results.

After Trump tried to overturn his decision to Democrat Joe Biden and his supporters stormed the Capitol connected Jan. 6, Congress updated the 1800s-era Electoral Count Act to marque it harder to entity and to much intelligibly laic retired the vice president’s ceremonial role, among different changes. Trump had pressured Vice President Mike Pence to effort and entity to the results — thing the vice president has nary ineligible lasting to do.

Once Congress certifies the vote, the caller oregon returning president volition beryllium inaugurated Jan. 20 connected the steps of the Capitol