THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE FAQ
How are electors chosen?
The political parties (or independent candidates) in each state
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.
Who cannot serve as an elector?
Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are
prohibited from serving as electors in order to maintain the balance
between the legislative and executive branches of the federal
government.
How many electors does each state get?
Each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of
its U.S. senators plus the number of its U.S. representatives.
How does a presidential ticket win electoral votes?
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.) Colorado may change its system of allocation with
Amendment 36 on the state's ballot this year.
When are electoral votes cast?
On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December
(Monday, Dec. 13 this year), each state's electors meet in their
respective state capitals and cast their electoral votes -- one for
president and one for vice president. In order to prevent electors
from voting only for "favourite 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.
When are the electoral votes announced?
The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each state
to the president of the Senate who, on Jan. 6, opens and reads
them before both houses of the Congress.
How are a president and vice president chosen?
The candidate for president with the most electoral votes, provided
that it is an absolute majority (one vote over half of the total), is
declared president. Similarly, the vice presidential candidate with
the absolute majority of electoral votes is declared vice president.
What if no presidential candidate wins a majority of electoral
votes?
In the event that no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral
votes for president, the U.S. House of Representatives 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. This has happened twice in American history. If it
were to happen this cycle, President Bush would likely win reelection; a majority of the 50 congressional delegations are
dominated by Republicans. 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.
When are the new president and vice president sworn in?
At noon on Jan. 20, the duly elected president and vice president
are sworn into office.
What are the arguments in favour of the Electoral College?
A common argument in favour of the Electoral College is that it
forces the candidates to pay more attention to less-populated states
that they would otherwise ignore. Those who are proponents of the
two-party system claim the winner-takes-all result of the Electoral
College helps avoid political instability and deadlock that would arise
should the system be broken. Some argue the Electoral College
system gives power to minority groups by allowing a relatively small
number of voters in each state to make a difference in determining
which candidate gets that state's electoral votes. Others argue the
Electoral College maintains the federal system of government,
which was designed to reserve such important political powers to
the states as making a choice for the presidency and vice
presidency.
What are the arguments against the Electoral College?
Some argue against the (mostly) winner-takes-all system allows for
a candidate who loses the popular vote (as happened in 1824,
1876, 1888 and 2000) to win the presidency. Opponents claim it
discourages voter turnout by making people feel their vote does not
make a difference in non-competitive states. Some say it violates
the "one-person, one-vote" ideal since each state has a minimum of
three electors, regardless of its population. This gives residents of
the smallest states, which based on their population might
otherwise be entitled to just one or two electors, more influence
than residents of larger states. The current system does not require
electors to vote the way they are pledged. This is an argument of
lesser consequence, as the situation rarely happens, but there is, in
fact, nothing preventing electors from voting for whom they choose.