Have you ever wondered how America’s Electoral College works and what it means for you?
Here is the inside story of how the process works and how the Electoral College impacts on our government.
* The process begins with all states being allocated a number of Electors. How many electors are allocated is equal to 1) the number of its U.S. senators i.e. two - plus 2) the number of its U.S. representatives. The latter will change each ten years according to the size of the population contained within that state (as determined by the Census).
* Each state’s political parties or independent candidates submit a list of people pledged to their candidate for president to the state’s chief election official. This number is equal to the State’s electoral vote. In most cases the major political parties will select these people in their State party conventions or via appointment by their State party leaders. Third parties and independent candidates will simply designate the people on their list.
* Employees of the federal government and members of Congress are not allowed to serve as an Elector. This is so that the balance between legislative and executive branches of the federal government can be upheld.
* Once the caucuses and primaries have been held, the main political parties can nominate their candidates for president and vice president in their national conventions.
* The national conventions are usually held in the summer prior to the election but third parties and independent candidates will generally follow schedules relative to the specific laws of their State. The names of the nominees are now submitted to each State’s chief election official who is responsible for making sure that they are listed on the general election ballot.
* On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years divisible by four, the citizens of every State cast their vote for the party slate of Electors. This vote is representative of their choice for president and vice president. However, as a rule general election ballots usually say "Electors for" the groups of candidates rather and don’t list the individual Electors on each slate.
