The United States uses a multi-step presidential election process. This is similar to other large democratic nations. Yet the Electoral College is also unique.
This guide explains how presidents (and vice presidents) are elected, and why the system works this way. It includes a timeline and a map.
What is the Electoral College?
The Electoral College is a two-step democratic process to elect the president and vice president.
Voters in each state elect presidential electors who cast their state’s electoral votes for president and vice president. Each state gets as many presidential electors as it has members of the U.S. House and Senate, so that no state has fewer than three but larger states have more (California, the biggest, has 54).
What does the Constitution say?
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
– Article II, Section 1
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President….
– The 12th Amendment (ratified in 1804)
Why do we have the electoral college?
Many countries use a parliamentary system, where the legislature (usually called a parliament) chooses the executive (the prime minister). The first draft of the Constitution followed this model: Congress would have elected the president. This was rejected in favor of having a more independent executive, with greater separation of powers and more checks and balances.
The Electoral College was first suggested by James Wilson, a delegate from Pennsylvania. Its most important benefit was that it balanced power between people in large and small states.
Does the Electoral College make a difference?
The Constitution forces presidential campaigns to build massive coalitions across many states. This also causes the political parties do the same thing and helps ensure minority voices are heard in national politics. Without the Electoral College, presidential politics could splinter, with many candidates running and the winner receiving only a small plurality of the vote.
2024-25 Electoral College Calendar
The Constitution sets out the basic process, with federal and state laws and political party rules filling in the details.
Pre-Election
Checklist
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Candidates campaign for their party’s nomination. Like the Electoral College, this is a state-by-state process, but it is governed by political party rules.
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State parties nominate people to be presidential electors. If their party wins their state in November, these people become electors and cast the state’s electoral votes.
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National parties nominate candidates for president and vice president. This usually happens at national conventions in the summer, and is considered the beginning of the general election campaign.
Election Day
As a kind of shorthand, people talk about “voting for president,” but we’re really voting for our state’s presidential electors.
State results final
By this date, all states must provide their election results on a document called the Certificate of Ascertainment.
Electors vote
In each state, electors meet, cast their ballots for president and vice president, and send the results to the National Archives and the President of the Senate (the current vice president).
Congress counts
The new Congress meets, both the House and the Senate together, to count the electoral votes and declare who is elected president and vice president.
Inauguration Day!
At noon today, the newly elected president and vice president are sworn in and take office.
Based on the census every ten years, seats in the U.S. House are redistributed among the states based on population. This changes the number of electors allocated to each state.
How many presidential electors are there?
Each state gets as many presidential electors as it has members of Congress, which has 435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The 23rd Amendment also gives 3 electors to the District of Columbia. Add these up and there are 538 presidential electors.
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What is required to win?
The Constitution requires a majority of electoral votes, at least 270 out of 538, to win. To be president or vice president, a person must also be at least 35 years old and be a “natural born citizen” who has been “fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”
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What if no candidate has a majority?
There are 538 possible electoral votes, and the Constitution requires a majority (270 votes) to win. If no candidate has a majority, the House of Representatives, voting by state, elects the president from among the top three candidates.
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What about Maine and Nebraska?
In 48 states and DC, presidential electors are all elected based on the total vote, but in Maine and Nebraska they elect one presidential elector from each congressional district. The remaining two presidential electors are elected based on the statewide vote.
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What other ways have states chosen electors?
Early in American history, some state legislatures appointed their state’s presidential electors on their own or with other state officials. Some states also elected presidential electors using U.S. House districts or elector districts.
About Save Our States
Trent England founded Save Our States in 2009 to educate Americans about the Electoral College. As a student at Claremont McKenna College, Trent studied with Michael Uhlmann, who authored a famous Senate report defending the Electoral College. The mission of Save Our States is to defend the constitutional power of the states and help them use that power to defend our republic.
Watch Our Film
Safeguard is an award-winning documentary that explains the benefit to being a nation of states, especially for minority rights, and asks what might happen without the Electoral College.
