EXPLAINER
Within the US, presidential elections are determined by a state-based vote allocation system. Right here’s what it’s essential know.
It’s on the coronary heart of how presidential elections in the USA are determined. However for a lot of, the Electoral School is a thriller, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in an enigma.
It doesn’t must be complicated, although.
To know the Electoral School system, you first must know that US presidents should not elected by the nationwide common vote: the full variety of votes every candidate receives.
As an alternative, a bunch of 538 so-called “electors” choose the president. These electors make up the Electoral School.
So who’re these electors?
Earlier than the election, the political events in every state select a slate of electors: actual individuals who in the end solid a vote for the president. Fairly often, the electors are occasion officers or supporters.
Every state will get the identical variety of electors because it has representatives within the US Home of Representatives and the US Senate.
For instance, Michigan will get 15 Electoral School votes. That corresponds to the 2 senators and 13 Home members that signify the state in Congress.
Now that we all know who these electors are and what number of signify every state, how are their votes allotted? Right here’s the place it will get enjoyable.
In practically all of the states throughout the US, the presidential candidate who will get probably the most votes wins all that state’s electors: It’s a winner-takes-all system. Even when a candidate wins a state narrowly, they nonetheless get all of the electors.
The outliers are Maine and Nebraska, which allocate their electors primarily based on a extra difficult system that displays the favored vote on the state and congressional district ranges.
The District of Columbia — which isn’t a state however encompasses the nation’s capital — additionally will get three Electoral School votes.
However right here is an important half: To win the White Home, a presidential candidate should win the assist of a majority of the electors.
So out of a complete of 538 Electoral School votes, they want no less than 270 to win.
The electors in the end solid their votes in December, a few month after the election.
Their votes are then licensed by Congress in early January, when the president is confirmed and takes workplace.
So what does this all imply?
Successfully, to win the US presidency, a candidate has to win assist in sufficient key states to achieve that magic Electoral School variety of 270.
Below this method, a candidate who wins the favored vote — probably the most votes in whole throughout the US — might not truly win the White Home.
One current instance got here in 2016, when Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received the favored vote however misplaced the election to Republican Donald Trump. His victory was buoyed by wins in states like Florida and Pennsylvania, every of which supplied no less than 20 Electoral School votes.
The Electoral School system was designed, in impact, to make sure the political energy of the states.
Some Individuals say the Electoral School ought to be scrapped in favour of the favored vote. Others argue the system ensures extremely populated states don’t overshadow smaller ones, thereby encouraging minority illustration in US democracy.