Overview of the Electoral College
The concept of the Electoral College is integral to understanding the inner workings of US presidential elections. It’s a political institution that was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution. For more than two centuries now, it has been playing a pivotal role in deciding the outcome of the presidential elections and provides a unique framework for the election process.
Origins of the Electoral College
The Electoral College was cleverly crafted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The founders wanted to balance the influence of small and large states, and they believed that this system would deter the ‘tyranny of the majority.’ The Constitution’s framers aimed to ensure the President is chosen both by the U.S. Congress and the people. The system was established to safeguard against uninformed or uneducated voters by putting the final decision in the hands of electors most likely to possess adequate information. Long story short, it was created to allow for a fair and balanced decision-making process based on the country’s democratic principles.
Electoral College Composition and Allocation of Votes
The Electoral College contains 538 electors, derived from the total voting membership of the United States Congress, 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, plus three electors from the District of Columbia. States are allocated a particular number of votes based on their total number of Senators and Representatives, a number that fluctuates due to population changes that are gauged by the Census every ten years. Therefore, each state, regardless of size, has a minimum of three electoral votes.
Presidential Voting Process
In the presidential election, voters technically vote for electors, who then ‘pledge’ to vote for their party’s candidate. More specifically, when voters cast their ballot to select their preferred presidential candidate, they are, in reality, choosing a slate of electors. In most states, the candidate receiving the majority of popular votes gets all of the state’s electoral votes. However, Nebraska and Maine follow a different approach, called the Congressional District method, dividing their electors between the state-wide winner and the victor in each Congressional district.
Counting of Electoral Votes
After the general election, the Governor of each state prepares a ‘Certificate of Ascertainment’ listing all of the candidates who ran for President in the state along with the names of their respective electors. The certificate also declares the winning presidential candidate in the state and shows which electors will represent the state at the meeting of the electors in December of the election year. Consequently, the winning electors meet in their respective states and formally vote for the President and Vice President on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December. The results are then sent to the President of the Senate, who reads them before both houses of Congress on January 6th.
Contingency Plan
Suppose no candidate manages to get the majority of electoral votes, which is currently 270. In this case, as stated in the 12th Amendment to the
