How does the electoral college work?

After all ballots have been cast for this year's presidential election, the counting will begin. But in the United States' unusual electoral system, there are essentially two counts – the popular vote and the results in the Electoral College.

This is how they work:

What is the popular vote?

The popular vote is your voice – the voices of the people. The popular vote corresponds to the number of ballot papers cast.

What is the Electoral College?

The Electoral College consists of 538 electors – one for each representative and senator in Congress and three for the District of Columbia. To become president, Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump must achieve a majority of 270 electoral votes.

The Electoral College is based on a state's representation in Congress, which is based on a state's population.

As the most populous state in the country, California has the most electors: 54 for its 52 representatives and two senators. Harris is widely expected to win the popular vote in California, sweeping all 54 electors.

In most states, the candidate who wins the popular vote in a state is awarded to the state's voters on a winner-take-all basis.

However, two states – Maine and Nebraska – have an electoral college with proportional representation. Both states award two electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote, and then one to the winner of each congressional district (Maine has two congressional districts; Nebraska has three).

Generally, each state's political party determines the slate of electors.

How does a candidate become president?

To become president, a candidate must win 270 electoral votes.

A president can win the Electoral College without winning the popular vote. This has happened four times in U.S. history, twice in the 19th century and twice this century. Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton, but prevailed in the Electoral College in 2016. Republican George W. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 but defeated Democrat Al Gore.

What happens if there is a tie in the vote?

If the candidates each have 269 electoral votes, the election goes to the House of Representatives. Each state is allowed one vote for president, and at least two-thirds of the chamber must be present for the vote.

The last time the House voted on a presidential election was in 1824, when it elected John Quincy Adams.

Why are swing states so important?

While every state has voters from many parties and those who are unaffiliated, most states have a comfortable majority of either Republicans or Democrats.

In California, for example, 46% of registered voters are Democrats, compared to nearly 25% Republicans and nearly 22% of voters who do not indicate a party preference, as well as 7% of other voters. With voter registration numbers like these, it is almost certain that the Democratic presidential candidate will win the popular vote and, in turn, the state's voters.

However, in the seven swing states – Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan – the numbers are much closer together, so the majority of the electoral vote can be very close.

In 2020, for example, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by 80,555 votes over Trump, winning all of the state's electors and securing the presidency. Biden won some states by even smaller margins, such as Arizona, where he defeated Trump by just over 10,000 votes.

When will voters be certified?

Electors will meet in their respective states on December 17 to cast their votes for president and vice president. Your votes will be recorded on a voting certificate, which will then be sent to Congress.

A joint session of Congress will be held on January 6 to certify the electoral votes. As President of the Senate, the Vice President presides over the joint session and announces the official count. In 2020, Vice President Mike Pence served in that role despite Trump's objections and a mob that stormed the Capitol to disrupt the election certification.

The president-elect will be sworn in as president on January 20th.

Why do we have an electoral college?

When the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution, they created the Electoral College process as a compromise between those who wanted Congress to choose the president and those who wanted to leave it to the people.

Some activist groups, such as Making Every Vote Count, advocate eliminating the process by passing a constitutional amendment. Rachelle Chong, one of the group's speakers, cited a 2023 Pew Research Center study that found 63% of U.S. adults want the presidency to be decided by a popular vote.

“The way a democracy works should be one person, one vote, right?” she said.

By FAITH E. PINHO, Los Angeles Times