When Americans vote for President, they are technically choosing electors. Those electors cast the votes that decide the presidency.
The Basics
- Article II, Section 1 directs each state to appoint electors “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct”
- Each state gets as many electors as it has senators and representatives. The Twenty-third Amendment gives the District of Columbia three
- There are 538 electors in all. Winning requires a majority: 270
- Members of Congress and other federal officeholders may not serve as electors
How States Award Electors
Every state now chooses electors by popular vote. Forty-eight states and D.C. use winner-take-all: the candidate with the most votes in the state wins all its electors. Maine and Nebraska award two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district.
The Timeline After Election Day
- November: Voters cast ballots, and states count and certify results
- December: Electors meet in their states to cast separate votes for President and Vice President, as the Twelfth Amendment requires
- January 6: Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes, with the Vice President presiding
- January 20: The new term begins at noon under the Twentieth Amendment
After disputes over the 2020 count, Congress passed the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022. It clarifies that the Vice President’s role in the count is ministerial, raises the threshold for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors to one-fifth of each chamber, and identifies who in each state certifies electors.
If No One Reaches 270
Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House of Representatives chooses the President from the top three candidates, with each state delegation casting a single vote. The Senate chooses the Vice President from the top two. The House last decided a presidential election in 1825.
Faithless Electors
Electors who vote against their state’s popular vote winner are rare. In Chiafalo v. Washington (2020), the Supreme Court unanimously upheld state laws requiring electors to vote for the candidate they pledged to support.
The Debate
Supporters say the system protects federalism, forces candidates to build broad geographic coalitions, and contains disputes within individual states. Critics point out that a candidate can win the presidency while losing the national popular vote, as happened in 2000 and 2016. Changing the system would require a constitutional amendment, or state action such as the proposed National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
Keep Digging With Truth Agent
This article is a starting point. Truth Agent puts the public record at your fingertips, including the Constitution, federal law, regulations, court opinions and oversight reports, so you can read the Constitution’s election clauses, state election laws and official results without relying on anyone’s summary, including ours.
Read Next on Truth Trench
- Election Integrity Research Series: Truth Trench Think Tank
- The Constitution: America’s Framework for Government
- Checks and Balances: How the Three Branches of Government Limit Each Other
