Q: What is the Electoral College?
A:Many people don't realize when they cast a vote for President and Vice President that they actually are casting a vote for electors to vote for the President and Vice President. The electors are chosen as directed by each state's legislature, and in most cases are selected by the political parties at their state party conventions. The number of electors for each state is equal to the number of members of the House of Representatives plus two for the members of the Senate each state has. The Electoral College is one of the many checks and balances that America's founders established in the Constitution. Both Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to the electors. The term college was used to describe the body of people that act as a unit.
Q: Who are the electors and how do they vote?
A:Anyone can serve as an elector, according to the Constitution, except for U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives and persons "holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States." Each state legislature can choose how the electors are chosen, but each party generally decides at their state conventions who would be their electors if their party wins. Electors cast their ballots on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December and are pledged and expected to vote for the candidates they represent, but are not required to unless it is a requirement in state law. Forty-eight of the 50 states cast all electoral ballots for a candidate in a winner-take-all format. The only two states that split their electoral votes are Maine and Nebraska. The ballots cast by the electors are certified by a joint session of Congress in Washington on January 6th and the Vice President, as President of the Senate, formally declares the winner.
Q: Why was the Electoral College put in place?
A:In 1787, the Constitutional Convention was deciding how to elect the President and Vice President. Convention delegates were deciding between Congress voting, Governors of states voting, state legislatures voting, direct election and other ideas. Like the great compromise that gave us our bicameral system with a House of Representatives and a Senate, the Electoral College was a compromise that protected the interests of both large and small states by allocating more weight to large states while ensuring that smaller states could not be ignored in Presidential elections. It also balanced both state and federal interests, provided some popular participation, ensured that the Presidency was independent from Congress, and insulated the election from political manipulation.