On Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, voters from around the country will complete the process of choosing electors who will pick the next president and vice president of the United States.
How did that process come to be, and how does it work? The election process was one of the key items considered in the Constitution’s drafting in 1787 and ratification a year later. Since 1789, the Electoral College has been a unique feature of our constitutional form of government.
The Workings of the Electoral College
The term “Electoral College” is not actually stated in the Constitution’s wording. It has been used in the United States since the Constitution’s ratification to explain the election process for the offices of the president and vice president. (The term “Electoral College” had been used in Europe before 1787 to describe groups of governing officials.)
In the United States, voters do not select presidential candidates directly. They vote for slates of electors that represent each candidate. Usually, the slates are chosen by the candidate’s political party in each state. The chief executive of each state and the District of Columbia then appoint electors approved by each candidate.
The Constitution’s Article II, Section 1 spells out the basic Electoral College rules:
- A majority of electors is needed to elect a president; Members of Congress or people holding a United States office can’t be electors;
- Electors can’t pick two presidential candidates from their own state; and
- Congress determines when the electors meet within their states (or in the federal district).
The total number of Elecatoral College members equals the number of office holders in Congress and three additional electors from the District of Columbia.
The Process of Electing a President and Vice President
The electors of each state convene after the election on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. Any disputes within the states over electors must be resolved by Dec. 11, 2024, when the executive officer of each state signs a Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen by voters in the general election.
On Dec. 17, 2024, the electors in each state will meet to select the president and vice president of the United States. They almost always meet in person at the state or federal district capital. In 48 of 50 states, only the electors who represent the candidate with the most popular votes on Election Day each get to cast votes in the Electoral College election. (Maine and Nebraska split votes by congressional district.)
Each state group sends its endorsed, official vote count certificate to the current vice president of the United States (acting as president of the Senate), state officials, the federal court that has jurisdiction over the state capital area, and the federal Archivist. The vote certificates must be received in Washington, D.C., by Dec. 25, 2024.
The new federal Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2025, and it meets on Jan. 6, 2025 for the Electoral College vote count. The vice president will open the vote certificates and pass them to two members of the House and two members of the Senate, who count the votes. If there is a majority winner with at least 270 electoral votes and there are no successful objections filed by members of Congress, the presidential election is certified and over. If there isn’t a majority winner, the election is sent to Congress to decide. The House decides who is president; the Senate decides who is vice president.
More From the National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution
Our Interactive Constitution contains the Constitution’s full text along with interpretations from scholars representing different perspectives on the Constitution. Each common interpretation, signed by both scholars, is a joint statement of what they agree about a provision’s history and meaning.
The Interactive Constitution: Article II and The Electoral College
You can read the exact wording in the Constitution about the Electoral College in our Interactive Constitution, share that information with your friends and even embed the words on your own digital content.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/articles/article-ii
The Interactive Constitution: Understanding The Electoral College
Sanford V. Levinson from the University of Texas Law School explains the story behind the Electoral College, which was set out in the 1787 Constitution as the mechanism by which Americans select their presidents.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xii
Constitutional Changes to the Electoral College and Election Process
The 12th Amendment: The Original Text
Passed by Congress Dec. 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804. The 12th Amendment changed a portion of Article II, Section 1. A portion of the 12th Amendment was changed by the 20th Amendment.
“The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted … - Click here for all of the 12th Amendment.
Common Interpretation: The 12th Amendment
The 20th Amendment: The Original Text
Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified Jan. 23, 1933. The 20th Amendment changed a portion of Article I, Section 4, and a portion of the 12th Amendment.
“The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin … Click here for all of the 20th Amendment.
Common Interpretation: The 20th Amendment
Official Government Resources
This is the official Government Publishing Office version of the rules governing the joint meeting of Congress on Jan. 6, 2025, incorporating the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
3 U.S. Code § 15 - Counting electoral votes in Congress.
3 U.S. Code § 16 - Same; seats for officers and Members of two Houses in joint meeting
3 U.S. Code § 17 - Same; limit of debate in each House
3 U.S. Code § 18 - Same; parliamentary procedure at joint meeting
In Focus: Electoral College Overview (2024). This Congressional Research Service In Focus report highlights key aspects and recent policy developments related to the Electoral College.
