US History

Electoral College

When you vote for the president you are actually voting for an elector to vote for you.

Each state has a determined number of electors. A state’s number of electors is the total number of Senators and Representatives in the House. There are 538 electoral votes, 100 Senators, 435 House of Representatives, and 3 from the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia but it is given the minimum of 3 electoral votes.

48 out of the 50 States have a “winner takes all” method. The two states that can divide votes are Maine and Nebraska. A candidate must get 270 to win the Presidential election. It is possible that a candidate doesn’t get to 270 votes so then the House of Representatives votes to decide president. It is possible to get more popular votes and not win the election, popular votes don’t matter.