Editing United States Electoral College (section)

=== Meeting of electors ===
{{See also|Electoral Count Act}}
[[File:2020 presidential election US electoral college certificates.jpg|thumb|Cases of certificates of the electoral college votes confirming the results of the 2020 US election, after they had been removed from the House Chambers by congressional staff during the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]]]]
[[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 4: Election day|Article II, Section 1, Clause 4]] of the Constitution authorizes Congress to fix the day on which the electors shall vote, which must be the same day throughout the United States. And both [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 3: Electoral College|Article II, Section 1, Clause 3]] and the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] that replaced it specifies that "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."

In 1887, Congress passed the [[Electoral Count Act]], now codified in [[Title 3 of the United States Code|Title 3, Chapter 1]] of the United States Code, establishing specific procedures for the counting of the electoral votes. The law was passed in response to the disputed [[1876 United States presidential election|1876 presidential election]], in which several states submitted competing slates of electors. Among its provisions, the law established deadlines that the states must meet when selecting their electors, resolving disputes, and when they must cast their electoral votes.<ref name=CRS/><ref>{{cite web|first=Edward-Isaac|last=Dovere|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-biden-electoral-count-act-1887/615994/|title=The Deadline That Could Hand Trump the Election|publisher=The Atlantic|date=2020-09-09|access-date=2020-11-09}}</ref>

From 1948 to 2022, the date fixed by Congress for the meeting of the Electoral College was "on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their appointment".<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S.C. Title 3 - THE PRESIDENT | url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title3/html/USCODE-2011-title3-chap1-sec7.htm|date=2011|access-date=2024-06-28}}</ref> As of 2022, with the passing of "S.4573 - Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022", this was changed to be "on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December next following their appointment".<ref name="electoral2022"/>

Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, disqualifies all elected and appointed [[Federal government of the United States|federal officials]] from being electors. The [[Office of the Federal Register]] is charged with administering the Electoral College.<ref name="Zak">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-electoral-college-isnt-a-real-place-but-someone-has-to-answer-its-phones-these-days/2016/11/16/816f3838-aaa7-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html|title=The electoral college isn't a real place: But someone has to answer all the angry phone calls these days |first=Dan|last=Zak|date=November 16, 2016|newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref>

After the vote, each state sends to Congress a certified record of their electoral votes, called the Certificate of Vote. These certificates are opened during a [[joint session of Congress]], held on January 6<ref>{{usc|3|15}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}} unless another date is specified by law, and read aloud by the incumbent vice president, acting in his capacity as ''president of the Senate''. If any person receives an absolute majority of electoral votes, that person is declared the winner.<ref>{{cite web|title=What is the Electoral College?|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html|work=U.S. Electoral College|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}} If there is a tie, or if no candidate for either or both offices receives an absolute majority, then choice falls to Congress in a procedure known as a [[contingent election]].