Many have been hearing about an electoral college and wondering how it works and whether its a fare representation.
The United States Electoral College is a name used to describe the official 538 Presidential electors who come together every four years during the presidential election to give their official votes for President and Vice President of the United States. … The Constitution leaves states to decide how electors will vote
History and When it was formed
In the year 1787 the Founding Fathers of the United states of America created it as an alternative to the popular vote. In part to ensure smaller states had a say, but also to appease southern slaveholding states who wanted their population size to be reflected, even though many of those people (slaves) couldn’t vote.
To reflect its population size, the number of EC votes a state has is equal to the number of seats it has in the US Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate). So a minimum of three and a maximum of 55.
There are 538 electors in the Electoral College, so a candidate needs to win 270 electoral votes (half of the electoral college votes plus one), to reach the White House. It’s why the election is sometimes referred to as the “Race to 270”.
Therefore, when voters in each state go to the polls, they’re selecting their presidential electors. The names of electors are not on the ballot in most states. Rather, when a voter casts a vote for a presidential candidate, he or she is also casting a vote for the electors already selected by the party of that candidate. If a majority of voters in a state vote for the Republican candidate for president, the Republican slate of electors is elected” or vice versa.
If a candidate wins the popular vote they are awarded all of the state’s EC votes. This is the case in all but two states and it’s why swing states are so important: they may only be won by a small percentage, but the winner takes all.
The swing states in the 2020 elections include; Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.
How is electoral college formed?
Several weeks after the general election, electors from each state meet in their state capitals and cast their official vote for president and vice president. The votes are then sent to the president of the U.S. Senate who, on January 6 with the entire Congress present, tallies the votes and announces the winner
