DETROIT (FOX 2) – It is a system that many Americans question every election year: the Electoral College.

In every US presidential election, the Electoral College is crucial in deciding who will become the next President and Vice President of the United States.

How does the Electoral College work?

It involves three main steps: the selection of electors, the meeting of those electors to cast votes, and the counting of those votes by Congress.

The selection of voters

Each state, including Michigan, is assigned a number of electors based on the total number of members in Congress. For Michigan that is 15 electoral votes. Electoral votes are calculated by adding the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives a state has to the number of seats in the Senate. Each state has two seats in the Senate and Michigan has thirteen seats in the House, giving the state 15 votes in the Electoral College. Each state’s political parties choose a set of potential electors before the election, meaning that when voters cast their ballots on November 5, they are actually voting to decide which electors will represent the state.

Meeting of the electors

Once the votes are in, these voters come together in December to officially cast their votes. In most states, including Michigan, it is a winner-take-all system, meaning the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets all of its electoral votes.

Counting the votes

Congress then counts and certifies these votes, officially determining the winner.

How many electoral votes do we have to win?

To win the presidency, a candidate needs at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes, but sometimes unique situations can arise.

An example is when a candidate wins the popular vote at the national level, but loses the vote of the Electoral College. This happened in 2016 when then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump 227-304, but won the popular vote, with Clinton’s 65,853,514 votes. votes, to Trump’s 62,984,828 votes.

What happens if there is a tie in the presidential election?

If no candidate reaches 270, the decision goes to the House of Representatives, which is a rare event that has only happened twice but is outlined in the Constitution as a backup. But it’s not the current House of Representatives, it’s the next House of Representatives, which is also part of this election cycle. That means the audit that Congress begins in January will determine who leads the country, in the event of a tie.

Can the Electoral College be abolished?

Changing the Electoral College would require a constitutional amendment, so it is not something that can be easily amended. Whether Americans like it or not, this system is here to stay. For Michigan voters, this means that each vote helps determine which electors cast the decisive fifteen votes, ensuring their voices are heard in the Electoral College process.

Election day is Tuesday, November 5. To stay informed of election news, tap here.