The US election is not like the elections of other democratic countries. In it, the president and vice president are not directly elected by the people (known as the popular vote).
They basically elect an electorate by voting for their preferred presidential candidate. This electorate, called the 'Electoral College', does the work of electing the president and vice president.
The total number of votes in the Electoral College in the US election is 538. To be elected president, a candidate has to get 270 Electoral College votes. There is a certain number of electoral votes for each state. The state of California has a maximum of 54 electoral votes. Again, states like Alaska, South Dakota, and Vermont each have 3 electoral votes.
How are electoral votes determined?
The number of electoral votes in a state is determined by how many congressional districts it has. Each congressional district has one vote and two senators have two votes. California has 52 congressional districts. Like the other states, it has two Senate seats. As a result, the state has a total of 54 electoral votes.
Who are in the Electoral College?
Electoral votes are not cast by senators, representatives of the lower house, governors, or anyone else. For this, a completely separate group of voters is elected. This is done in two steps. The first step is controlled by the parties. Before the general election, the two parties submit their lists of nominated electoral voters, which are called slates.
When ordinary voters vote for president during the general election, they are essentially choosing this slate of electoral voters. In most states, the party whose presidential candidate wins is elected as the electoral voter. If President Donald Trump is elected directly in California in the upcoming election, the electoral voter slate sent by the Republican Party will be selected.
Exception
The states of Maine and Nebraska are exceptions in this case. Electoral votes are distributed proportionally in these two states. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton won the state of Maine. But out of the four electoral votes determined proportionally, Hillary received three and Donald Trump one.
Presidential Election
The Electoral College, elected by popular vote, casts the final vote for the president. These electoral voters will meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the general election and cast their votes for the president through separate ballots.
A meeting will be held in the Congressional Chamber on January 6 to count these votes. The final result of the election will be known only after the vote is counted at that meeting, chaired by the current Vice President.
Even though the system is like this, the final result of the election can be predicted from the identity of the winning candidate in various states immediately after the general election. Because, usually, the parties nominate such people as electoral voters who are very loyal to the party and the candidate.
Six influential states
California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania—these six states have 191 electoral colleges in their hands. Due to the 'winner takes it all' policy, these six states play a very important role in the presidential election.
Electoral Votes at a Glance
1. Each state has a certain number of Electoral College votes
2. Number of votes per state—number of congressional districts + two votes for 2 Senate seats
3. Who gets—one electoral college (slate) each from each party
4. Usually, the candidate who wins a state is considered to have won the slate assigned to his party (exceptions: Maine and Nebraska)
5. The elected voters will vote by secret ballot at the Electoral College meeting on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December following the presidential election
6. The final results of the presidential election will be announced after the electoral votes are counted on January 6 of next year
7. Total number of votes—538
8. Needed to win—270
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