Glossary

Electoral College

The constitutional system in which states' electors, not a direct national vote, formally choose the president and vice president.

Also called: Electoral College system, electors

The Electoral College is the mechanism the Constitution (Article II and the Twelfth Amendment) sets up for electing the president. Each state appoints a number of electors equal to its House seats plus its two senators, and the District of Columbia has three under the Twenty-Third Amendment, for a total of 538. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.

States choose how to appoint their electors, and all but Maine and Nebraska award their electors on a winner-take-all basis to the candidate who wins the state's popular vote; those two give two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district. Electors meet in December, cast their votes, and Congress counts them in January, a process governed by the Electoral Count Act. If no candidate gets a majority, the House picks the president in a contingent election.

Defenders argue the system protects smaller states, forces candidates to build broad coalitions and supports federalism and clear outcomes. Critics argue that it can elect a candidate who lost the national popular vote, as in 2000 and 2016, and that it focuses campaigns on a few swing states. Alternatives include direct popular election and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Last reviewed November 8, 2026

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Related terms

Faithless elector A presidential elector who votes for someone other than the candidate they were pledged or expected to support. National Popular Vote Interstate Compact An agreement among states to award their electors to the winner of the national popular vote once enough states join. Contingent election The procedure by which the House chooses the president, one vote per state delegation, when no candidate wins an Electoral College majority. Electoral Count Act The federal law governing how Congress counts electoral votes, revised in 2022 after the January 6 disputes. Swing state A state where neither party has a reliable majority, so presidential outcomes there are competitive and decisive.