* The party slate that gains the most popular votes in the State now becomes that State's Electors. This means that the presidential ticket that gets the most popular votes in a State will win all the Electors of that State. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule namely: Maine and Nebraska. In these states two Electors are picked by means of statewide popular vote and the rest by the popular vote within each Congressional district.
* On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December (established in federal law) each State's Electors hold a meeting in their State capital and cast their electoral votes for president and vice president.
* To curtail the Electors from voting only for their favorites at least one of their votes has to be for a person from another State. This isn’t usually a problem because the parties generally nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates from other States.
* Once the electoral votes are cast they are sealed and relayed from each State to the President of the Senate. On January 6, they are opened and read in front of both houses of the Congress. ]
* Whichever presidential candidate has the most electoral votes becomes president, as long as it is an absolute majority with one over half of the total being in favor. In much the same way, the vice presidential candidate who wins the absolute majority of electoral votes will be declared vice president.
* Where none of the candidates gains an absolute majority of electoral votes, the U.S. House of Representatives must choose the president from the top three candidates, with each State casting only one vote and an absolute majority of the States needed to elect.
* Where there is no absolute majority for vice president, the U.S. Senate will choose from among the top two candidates for that office.
* At noon on January 20, the president and vice president will be sworn into office.
Some obvious questions arise. Such as what would happen if the presidential or vice presidential nominees died while this process was underway. For answers to questions like these and any other questions you may have about how the Electoral College works I recommend reading a little book called: ‘After the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President edited by Walter Berns and published in 1983 by the American Enterprise Institute.
If you would like to obtain more detail on the history and present structure of the Electoral College these can be found in the second edition of Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections. It contains a wealth of information, maps, and statistics on this subject.
As an American citizen it is your duty to learn and understand how your government operates and a basic understanding of how the Electoral College functions to provide for the smooth workings of democracy is integral to this understanding. Seeking knowledge about how your Electoral College and government works goes a long way to becoming more involved in what our country really means.
