#418....the what's and who's and how's....

Current Workings of the Electoral College

The current workings of the Electoral College are the result of both
design and experience. As it now operates:

Each State is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its U.S.
Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U.S. Representatives (which may
change each decade according to the size of each State's population as
determined in the Census).

* The political parties (or independent candidates) in each State submit to
the State's chief election official a list of individuals pledged to their
candidate for president and equal in number to the State's electoral vote.
Usually, the major political parties select these individuals either in
their State party conventions or through appointment by their State party
leaders while third parties and independent candidates merely
designate theirs.

* Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are
prohibited from serving as an Elector in order to maintain the balance
between the legislative and executive branches of the federal
government.

* After their caucuses and primaries, the major parties nominate their
candidates for president and vice president in their national conventions
-- traditionally held in the summer preceding the election. (Third
parties and independent candidates follow different procedures
according to the individual State laws). The names of the duly
nominated candidates are then officially submitted to each State's chief
election official so that they might appear on the general election ballot.

* On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years
divisible by four, the people in each State cast their ballots for the party
slate of Electors representing their choice for president and vice
president (although as a matter of practice, general election ballots
normally say "Electors for" each set of candidates rather than list the
individual Electors on each slate).

* Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the State becomes
that State's Electors -- so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets
the most popular votes in a State wins all the Electors of that State. [The
two exceptions to this are Maine and Nebraska where two Electors are
chosen by statewide popular vote and the remainder by the popularvote
within each Congressional district].

* On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December (as
established in federal law) each State's Electors meet in their respective
State capitals and cast their electoral votes -- one for president and one
for vice president.

* In order to prevent Electors from voting only for "favorite sons" of their
home State, at least one of their votes must be for a person from outside
their State (though this is seldom a problem since the parties have
consistently nominated presidential and vice presidential candidates
from different States).

* The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each State to
the President of the Senate who, on the following January 6, opens and
reads them before both houses of the Congress.

* The candidate for president with the most electoral votes, provided that
it is an absolute majority (one over half of the total), is declared
president. Similarly, the vice presidential candidate with the absolute
majority of electoral votes is declared vice president.

* In the event no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral votes for
president, the U.S. House of Representatives (as the chamber closest to
the people) selects the president from among the top three contenders
with each State casting only one vote and an absolute majority of the
States being required to elect. Similarly, if no one obtains an absolute
majority for vice president, then the U.S. Senate makes the selection
from among the top two contenders for that office.

* At noon on January 20, the duly elected president and vice president are
sworn into office.