Electoral College Information
The Electoral College - a brief discussion
The current workings of the Electoral College are the result of both design and experience. As it now operates:
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Each State is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its
U.S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U.S. Representatives (which
may change each decade according to the size of each State's population as
determined in the Census). Virginia has one elector for each of its 11 districts
plus 2 at large for a total of 13 electors. |
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The political parties (or independent candidates) submit to
the State's chief election official a list of individuals pledged to their
candidate for president and equal in number to the State's electoral vote.
Usually, the major political parties select these individuals either in
their State party conventions or through appointment by their State party
leaders while third parties and independent candidates merely designate
theirs. |
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Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are prohibited
from serving as an Elector in order to maintain the balance between the
legislative and executive branches of the federal government. |
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After their caucuses and primaries, the major parties nominate their
candidates for president and vice president in their national conventions traditionally held in the summer preceding the election. (Third parties
and independent candidates follow different procedures according to the
individual State laws). The names of the duly nominated candidates are then
officially submitted to each State's chief election official so that they
might appear on the general election ballot. |
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On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years divisible
by four, the people cast their ballots for the party slate of
Electors representing their choice for president and vice president
(although as a matter of practice, general election ballots normally say
"Electors for" each set of candidates rather than list the
individual Electors on each slate). A list of the electors for each
candidate in the most recent presidential election can be viewed by clicking
here. |
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Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the State becomes
that State's Electors-so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets
the most popular votes in a State wins all the Electors of that State. [The
two exceptions to this are Maine and Nebraska where two Electors are chosen
by statewide popular vote and the remainder by the popular vote within each
Congressional district]. |
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On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December (as established
in federal law) (December 18, 2000) each State's Electors meet in their respective State
capitals and cast their electoral votes-one for president and one for vice
president. |
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In order to prevent Electors from voting only for "favorite
sons" of their home State, at least one of their votes must be for a
person from outside their State (though this is seldom a problem since the
parties have consistently nominated presidential and vice presidential
candidates from different States). |
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The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each State to the
President of the Senate who, on the following January 6, opens and reads
them before both houses of the Congress. |
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The candidate for president with the most electoral votes, provided that
it is an absolute majority (one over half of the total), is declared
president. Similarly, the vice presidential candidate with the absolute
majority of electoral votes is declared vice president. |
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In the event no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral votes for
president, the U.S. House of Representatives (as the chamber closest to the
people) selects the president from among the top three contenders with each
State casting only one vote and an absolute majority of the States being
required to elect. Similarly, if no one obtains an absolute majority for
vice president, then the U.S. Senate makes the selection from among the top
two contenders for that office. |
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At noon on January 20, the duly elected president and vice president are sworn into office. |
For additional information on the electoral college, visit the Federal Register's National Archives and Records Administration's Electoral College Home Page
