What is the Electoral
College?

In the American Political
System, the true winner of the Presidential Race
is not determined by simply adding up the vote
totals from each of the 50 states plus the
District of Columbia. No, each state and D.C.
hold its own presidential election and the
winner of each of those separate elections (all
held on the same day of course, the first
Tuesday following the first Monday in November
of a Presidential Election year), takes all of
what are called "Electoral Votes" in each state
and district. Main and Nebraska do it
differently where a portion of the electoral
votes goes to the presidential candidate who
wins each congressional district. Nationwide, a
candidate needs to win a total, from among the
states, of at least 270 electoral votes in order
to win the election to be the next President of
the United States.

The The Electoral College, as
the whole group of Electors nationwide is
called, is made up of 538 members from the 50
states and the District of Columbia. When
citizens vote for the presidential candidate of
their choice, in reality they are really voting
for a person called an "Elector" who is chosen
by the candidates' campaign organizations to
represent their candidate. For example, in
Washington State, which has a total of eleven
Electors, there are eleven people representing
the Republican candidate, John McCain, and
another eleven representing the Democratic
candidate, Barack Obama. If a majority (or even
a plurality-but that's another story) of the
state's voters choose Obama, then all eleven of
Obama's chosen representatives become that
state's official Electors. So, what happens
then? On the first Monday following the second
Wednesday in December, the Electors meet in each
state (not as a national group, but as
individual state groups), and formally cast the
"real" votes for President and Vice-President.
The official Elector's votes are then sent to
the House of Representatives where the President
of the Senate (usually the incumbent
Vice-President), officially reads the results
and declares the winner.

 

The rules governing the
Electoral College are found in the United States
Constitution in Article 2, Section 1, and in the
12th Amendment. Electors meet on the first
Monday following the second Wednesday in
December , which, in 2008, is December 15. These
dates are set by law in the US Code, at 3 USC
7.