Why is there so much discussion about the Electoral College?
US elections are not like elections in other democratic countries. The President and Vice President are not elected by direct popular vote. They basically elect an electorate by voting for their preferred presidential candidate. The Electoral College elects the President and Vice President.
The total number of Electoral College votes in US elections is 538. A candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes to be elected president. Each state has a fixed number of electoral votes. For example, in this year's election, the state of California has the highest number of electoral votes at 54. In the last election, there were 55 electoral colleges in this state. In the last census, the state lost one congressional district due to population decline. As a result, an electoral college has also been reduced. And states like Alaska, South Dakota, Vermont have 3 electoral votes each.
How Electoral Votes Are Determined
How many electoral votes a state has is determined by how many congressional districts it has. Each congressional district is allocated one vote and two senators each. California now has 52 congressional districts. Like other states there are 2 Senate seats. As a result, the total number of electoral votes of the state is 54.
Who is in the Electoral College?
Electoral votes shall not be cast by senators, representatives of the lower house, governors or such. For this a completely different electorate was selected. This is done in two steps. The first step is to control the parties. Before the general election, the two parties submit a list of their nominated electoral voters, called a slate. When voters vote for president during a general election, they essentially select this slate of electoral voters. In most states, the party's slate of the winning presidential candidate is chosen as the electoral vote. If Kamala Harris is directly elected in the upcoming elections in California, she will be chosen by the electoral voter slate sent by the Democratic Party.
Presidential election
The Electoral College, elected by popular vote, casts the final vote to elect the President. On the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December after the general election, these electoral voters shall meet and cast their votes for the presidential election by separate ballots. Next on January 6, a meeting was held in the Congress Chamber for the counting of these votes. The final result of the election is known only after the counting of votes in the meeting held under the chairmanship of the existing Vice President.
Although the procedure is like this, immediately after the general election, the final result of the election can be guessed from the identity of the candidate who won in different states. Because, usually parties nominate as electoral voters those people who are very loyal to the party and the candidate.
The dominant six states
California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania—these six states have 191 Electoral Colleges. These six states play a very important role in the presidential election due to the 'winner take it all' principle.
Electoral votes at a glance
Each state has a fixed number of Electoral College votes per
state—number of congressional districts + two votes for two Senate seats.
Who resides—one electorate each from two parties (slates)
Generally, a candidate who wins a state is deemed to have won the slate assigned by his party.
Electors vote by secret ballot at the Electoral College meeting on the Monday following the second Wednesday of December following the presidential election.
The final results of the presidential election will be announced after the counting of electoral votes on January 6 next year
Total number of electoral college votes—538
Needed to win—270