The United States has used the Electoral College since its founding choose the president of the country. To win the White House, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes.

Five presidents in the country’s history have won the presidency without winning the popular vote — most recently Donald Trump in 2016. His opponent that year, Hillary Clinton, won more than 2.8 million more votes nationally than Trump, but she lost plenty of important states to be defeated in the Electoral College, 306 to 232.

In 2020, Trump lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College to Joe Biden. The electoral vote was 306 to 232but in favor of the Democrat.

Trump is once again the GOP nominee in the 2024 elections in what has become a close race against Vice President Kamala Harris – with more than 82 million early voting votes cast.

Here’s how the Electoral College works, as well as details about its history and what role individual voters play in the outcome of the presidential election.

What is the Electoral College and how does it work?

The Electoral College is the process by which Americans indirectly elect their president and vice president through their state’s voters. Candidates must secure 270 electoral votes, a majority of the 538 at stake, to win the White House.

Before the general election, states select an electoral list. After voters cast their ballots in November, the candidate who wins the popular vote will determine which electors – Republican, Democrat or a third party – will cast electoral votes in the Electoral College for the president.

In most states it is winner-take-all: whoever gets the most votes in the state wins all his electoral votes.

In Maine and Nebraska, the rules are slightly different. They have a system of proportional representation in which the winner of each congressional district receives one electoral vote, and the winner of the statewide vote receives the remaining two electoral votes from each state. Some Republicans have since hoped to change Nebraska’s rules to a winner-take-all model one of his electoral votes often goes to the Democrat, but the effort fell short.

Voters meet in their respective states in mid-December to cast their votes for president. The meeting takes place on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year falls on December 17.

There is no constitutional provision or federal law that requires voters to vote for the candidate to whom they are committed, although they almost always do. ‘Disloyal voters’ are rare, as the voters are chosen by the parties.

How many voters are in the Electoral College?

There are a total of 538 voters in the 50 states and Washington DC

What determines how many electoral votes a state gets?

Each state is assigned electors based on the size of its congressional delegation. Several states with the smallest populations – Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming – have three electors each, as they have one representative in the House of Representatives and two senators, while California, the largest, has 54 electoral votes. Washington, D.C., will also be assigned three electors.

States can gain or lose voters as population growth changes, and there have been a number of changes since the 2020 presidential election.

In the redistricting that followed the 2020 census, Texas gained two electoral votes and five states gained one each, while seven states lost one electoral vote.

Who chooses the voters?

The electors are chosen by their respective political party before the general election. Their sole purpose is to meet in their state after the November elections and cast two votes: one for president and one for vice president.

Who are the voters?

Each party’s electorate may include state and local elected officials, party leaders, community activists, and others affiliated with the party. They are typically chosen “to recognize their service and dedication to that political party,” the National Archives explains.

There are no major qualifications, but members of Congress and certain other officeholders are not allowed to participate, as is anyone who has been involved in insurrection or rebellion.

What happens if there is a tie in the Electoral College?

In the rare event of a tie in the Electoral College – which in modern times would mean each candidate winning 269 electoral votes – members of the newly elected House of Representatives would determine the outcome of the presidential election, while the Senate would choose the outcome . vice president.

This type of contingent election would also take place if neither candidate wins a majority. This can happen if a third-party candidate wins a portion of the electoral votes or if there are several “faithless voters” who break their promise and vote for a candidate other than the one who won the state’s popular vote.

If it went to the House of Representatives, each state would get one vote regardless of the size of its congressional delegation, and the House’s fifty delegations (the District of Columbia would not participate) would select one of the top three presidential candidates.

The vice president would be elected by a simple majority in the Senate, and all senators would have a vote. As a result, it is possible for the president and vice president to be from different parties.

Since the Twelfth Amendment was ratified in 1804, there have been two contingent elections.

In 1824, four presidential candidates split the vote, and no candidate won an electoral majority. John Quincy Adams won election to the House of Representatives, even though Andrew Jackson had won a large number of popular and electoral votes.

And in 1837, Martin Van Buren won a majority of the electoral votes, but Virginia’s 23 electors refused to support his vice presidential candidate, Richard Johnson, and became faithless electors. This left Johnson one vote short, leading to contingent elections in the Senate, which he easily won.

Why do we vote when the Electoral College chooses the president?

Five presidents in US history have lost the popular vote and still managed to win the election, leading some to wonder why the nation continues to keep the Electoral College in place. The Electoral College was established in Article II of the Constitution and could be repealed through a constitutional amendment. But that is a difficult road. Amendments require a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states, or 38 of the current 50.

In a 2023 Pew Research poll, 65% of Americans said the president should be elected through the popular vote, not the Electoral College. Hundreds of proposals have been introduced in Congress over the years to change the process. There’s also a multi-state initiative called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which has been adopted by 17 states and Washington, D.C. That proposal would ensure that the winner of the popular vote gets all the electoral votes in the states that signed the pact — but it would only take effect if enough states agree.

So why maintain the Electoral College when there is so much frustration among Americans? According to the National Archives, the Founding Fathers saw the Electoral College as a middle ground between giving the decision to Congress or a direct vote by the citizens. Supporters say it will stay that way less populated states avoid being underrepresented by discouraging candidates from campaigning disproportionately in urban centers that are more densely populated.

What is the history of the Electoral College?

The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College in the Constitution in 1787. The term “Electoral College” does not appear in the country’s historical record, but the word “electors” does, according to the National Archives.

The ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804 changed some of the rules for the Electoral College. For example, it required separate electoral votes to be cast for the president and vice president. With the ratification of the 23rd Amendment in 1961, the District of Columbia received three electors.