Editing United States Electoral College (section)

=== Summary ===
Even though the aggregate national popular vote is calculated by state officials, media organizations, and the [[Federal Election Commission]], the people only [[Indirect election|indirectly elect]] the [[President of the United States|president]] and [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]. The president and vice president of the United States are elected by the Electoral College, which consists of 538 electors from the fifty states and [[Washington, D.C.]] Electors are selected state-by-state, as determined by the laws of each state. Since the [[1824 United States presidential election|1824 election]], the majority of states have chosen their presidential electors based on [[Winner-takes-all voting|winner-take-all]] results in the statewide popular vote on [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]].<ref name="FVWTA">{{cite web|last1=McCarthy|first1=Devin|title=How the Electoral College Became Winner-Take-All|url=http://www.fairvote.org/research-and-analysis/blog/how-the-electoral-college-became-winner-take-all/|website=Fairvote|access-date=November 22, 2014|archive-date=March 10, 2014|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20140310172659/http%3A//www.fairvote.org/research%2Dand%2Danalysis/blog/how%2Dthe%2Delectoral%2Dcollege%2Dbecame%2Dwinner%2Dtake%2Dall/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{as of|2020}}, [[Maine]] and [[Nebraska]] are exceptions as both use the [[#Congressional district method|congressional district method]], Maine since 1972 and in Nebraska since 1992.<ref name="ecollege" /> In most states, the popular vote [[ballot]]s list the names of the presidential and vice presidential candidates (who run on a [[Ticket (election)|ticket]]). The slate of electors that represent the winning ticket will vote for those two offices. Electors are nominated by the party and, usually, they vote for the ticket to which are promised.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-11|title=The Electoral College |url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/the-electoral-college.aspx |access-date=2020-11-15 |website=National Conference of State Legislatures}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

Many states require an elector to vote for the candidate to which the elector is pledged, but some "faithless electors" have voted for other candidates or refrained from voting. A candidate must receive an [[absolute majority]] of electoral votes (currently 270) to win the presidency or the vice presidency. If no candidate receives a majority in the election for president or vice president, the election is determined via a [[#Contingencies|contingency procedure]] established by the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]]. In such a situation, the House chooses one of the top three presidential electoral vote winners as the president, while the Senate chooses one of the top two vice presidential electoral vote winners as vice president.
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