The Electoral College is a process that was established by the founding fathers of the United States to elect the President of the country. It was established as a compromise between the election of the President by popular vote and election of the President by vote in Congress. The Electoral College is composed of three parts: the selection of the Electors, the Elector meeting where they cast their votes, and the counting of the votes by Congress. In this paper, I will discuss the composition of and procedures within this Electoral College system in detail. The Electoral College is composed of a total of 538 Electors, of which 270 votes are needed as a majority to elect the President. Each state is allotted a fixed number of electors, which represent one for each member of the House of Representative and one for each Senator. It is this number that adds up to the 538 electors. In addition, the …show more content…
There are some states though that do require this. These requirements fall into two categories: Electors that are bound by state law and those bound by pledges to political parties. Electors must comply to these pledges, otherwise they would become “faithless Electors” and might be subject to fines or their vote might be disqualified and replaced by a substitute Elector’s.
Electors cast their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the Presidential election. After they’ve voted, Electors must create six Certificates of Vote. These must contain two different lists: one for the President and one for the Vice President. The Certificates must list: all President and Vice-President candidates who received electoral votes and the number of electors who voted for them, the signature of all Electors, and attachment to one of the six Certificates of Ascertainment (which list the Electors chosen by the