Editing United States Electoral College (section)

=== Electors ===
==== Apportionment ====
{{further|United States congressional apportionment}}
[[File:US 2020 Census State Population Per Electoral Vote.png|thumb|upright=1.4|The population per electoral vote for each state and Washington, D.C., 2020 census. A single elector could represent more than 700,000 people, or under 200,000.]]

A state's number of electors equals the number of representatives plus two electors for the senators the state has in the [[United States Congress]].<ref>The present allotment of electors by state is shown in the ''Electoral vote distribution'' section.</ref><ref>The number of electors allocated to each state is based on [[Article Two of the United States Constitution|Article II, Section 1, Clause 2]] of the Constitution, subject to being reduced pursuant to [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution#Apportionment of representation in House of Representatives|Section{{nbsp}}2 of the Fourteenth Amendment]].</ref> Each state is entitled to at least one representative, the remaining number of representatives per state is [[United States congressional apportionment|apportioned]] based on their respective populations, determined every ten years by the [[United States census]]. In summary, 153 electors are divided equally among the states and the District of Columbia (3 each), and the remaining 385 are assigned by an apportionment among states.<ref>[https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-tableC2.pdf Table C2. Apportionment Population and Number of Seats in U.S. House of Representatives by State: 1910 to 2020] U.S. 2020 Census.</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

Under the [[Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-third Amendment]], [[Washington, D.C.]], is allocated as many electors as it would have if it were a state but no more electors than the least populous state. Because the least populous state ([[Wyoming]], in the 2020 census) has three electors, D.C. cannot have more than three electors. Even if D.C. were a state, its population would entitle it to only three electors. Based on its population per electoral vote, D.C. has the third highest per capita Electoral College representation, after Wyoming and Vermont.<ref>[https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-table01.pdf Table 1. Apportionment Population and Number of Representatives by State] U.S. 2020 Census.</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

Currently, there are 538 electors, based on 435 representatives, 100 senators from the fifty states and three electors from Washington, D.C. The six states with the most electors are [[California]] (54), [[Texas]] (40), [[Florida]] (30), [[New York (state)|New York]] (28), [[Illinois]] (19), and [[Pennsylvania]] (19). The District of Columbia and the six least populous states—[[Alaska]], [[Delaware]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Vermont]], and [[Wyoming]]—have three electors each.<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/allocation Distribution of Electoral Votes] U.S. National Archives.</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

==== Nominations ====
The custom of allowing recognized [[Political parties in the United States|political parties]] to select a [[Slate (elections)|slate]] of prospective electors developed early. In contemporary practice, each [[Ticket (election)|presidential-vice presidential ticket]] has an associated slate of potential electors. Then on Election Day, the voters select a ticket and thereby select the associated electors.<ref name=CRS2017THN/>

Candidates for elector are nominated by state chapters of nationally oriented political parties in the months prior to [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]]. In some states, the electors are nominated by voters in primaries the same way other presidential candidates are nominated. In some states, such as [[Oklahoma]], [[Virginia]], and [[North Carolina]], electors are nominated in party conventions. In [[Pennsylvania]], the campaign committee of each candidate names their respective electoral college candidates, an attempt to discourage [[faithless elector]]s. Varying by state, electors may also be elected by state legislatures or appointed by the parties themselves.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 25, 2016 |title=How is the president elected? Here is a basic guide to the electoral college system |url=https://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/how-is-the-president-elected-here-is-a-basic-guide-to-the-electoral-college-system/ |website=[[Raw Story]]}}</ref>{{Unreliable fringe source|date=February 2024}}

==== Selection process ====
[[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 2: Method of choosing electors|Article II, Section 1, Clause 2]] of the Constitution requires each state legislature to determine how electors for the state are to be chosen, but it disqualifies any person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, from being an elector.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/ClevelandPlainDealer10-29-2004.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710171414/http://www.edisonresearch.com/home/archives/ClevelandPlainDealer10-29-2004.pdf|archive-date=July 10, 2011|title=Brown learns he can't serve as Kerry elector, steps down|publisher=Cleveland Plain Dealer (reprint at Edison Research)|author=Sabrina Eaton|date=October 29, 2004|access-date=January 3, 2008}}</ref> Under [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution#Participants in rebellion|Section{{nbsp}}3 of the Fourteenth Amendment]], any person who has sworn an [[oath]] to support the United States Constitution in order to hold either a state or federal office, and later rebelled against the United States directly or by giving assistance to those doing so, is disqualified from being an elector. Congress may remove this disqualification by a two-thirds vote in each house.

All states currently choose presidential electors by popular vote. As of 2020, eight states{{Efn|Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee|name=|group=}} name the electors on the ballot. Mostly, the "short ballot" is used. The short ballot displays the names of the candidates for president and vice president, rather than the names of prospective electors.<ref>{{cite book|author=Darrell J. Kozlowski|title=Federalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KR7VxjvSod8C|year=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-60413-218-2|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KR7VxjvSod8C&pg=PA33 33–34]}}</ref> Some states support voting for [[write-in candidate]]s. Those that do may require pre-registration of write-in candidacy, with designation of electors being done at that time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Write-in Votes |url=https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2020/Feature_stories/write-ins.html |access-date=August 3, 2020 |website=[[electoral-vote.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/write-in-votes/|title= Planning to write in Paul Ryan or Bernie Sanders? It won't count in most states.|date=November 3, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Since 1992, all but two states have followed the {{nowrap|[[Plurality voting|winner takes all]]}} method of allocating electors by which every person named on the slate for the ticket winning the statewide popular vote are named as presidential electors.<ref name=fairvote20180801 /><ref>{{cite web|title=About the Electors|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html|work=U.S. Electoral College|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref>

[[Maine]] and [[Nebraska]] are the only states not using this method.<ref name="ecollege">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/me_ne.htm|title=The Electoral College – Maine and Nebraska|publisher=FairVote|access-date=November 16, 2011|archive-date=October 12, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012191923/http://archive.fairvote.org/e_college/me_ne.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In those states, the winner of the popular vote in each of its [[List of United States congressional districts|congressional districts]] is awarded one elector, and the winner of the statewide vote is then awarded the state's remaining two electors.<ref name=fairvote20180801>{{cite web|title=Maine & Nebraska|url=http://www.fairvote.org/maine_nebraska|website=FairVote|location=Takoma Park, Maryland|access-date=August 1, 2018|archive-date=August 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802041058/http://www.fairvote.org/maine_nebraska|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Split Electoral Votes in Maine and Nebraska |url=https://www.270towin.com/content/split-electoral-votes-maine-and-nebraska/ |access-date=August 1, 2018 |website=[[270 to Win]] |publisher=}}</ref> This method has been used in Maine since 1972 and in Nebraska since 1992. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] previously upheld the power for a state to choose electors on the basis of congressional districts, holding that states possess [[plenary power]] to decide how electors are appointed in ''[[McPherson v. Blacker]]'', {{ussc|146|1|1892}}.

The Tuesday following the first Monday in November has been fixed as the day for holding federal elections, called the [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]].<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|3|1}} A uniform national date for presidential elections was not set until 1845, although the Congress always had constitutional authority to do so. — Kimberling, William C. (1992) [http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf ''The Electoral College'', p. 7]</ref> After the election, each state prepares seven Certificates of Ascertainment, each listing the candidates for president and vice president, their pledged electors, and the total votes each candidacy received.<ref name="electcollinstr">{{cite web|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|title=Electoral College Instructions to State Officials|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/resources/state-officials-instructions.pdf|access-date=January 22, 2014}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}} One certificate is sent, as soon after Election Day as practicable, to the [[Archivist of the United States|National Archivist]] in Washington. The Certificates of Ascertainment are mandated to carry the state seal and the signature of the governor, or [[Mayor of the District of Columbia|mayor]] of D.C.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010723/http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2012-certificates/pdfs/ascertainment-washington-dc.pdf District of Columbia Certificate of Ascertainment] (archived from [https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2012-certificates/pdfs/ascertainment-washington-dc.pdf the original] on 2006-03-05)</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

==== Meetings ====
[[File:A certificate for the electoral vote for Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler for the State of Louisiana dated 1876 part 6.jpg|thumb|When a state's electors meet in December, they cast their ballots and record their vote on a Certificate of Vote, which is then sent to the U.S. Congress. The certificate shown is from the 1876 election.]]
{{external media
| float  = right
| image1 = [https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/us-electoral-college-formally-confirms-j-idUSRTX8G4HR A 2020 Pennsylvania elector holds a ballot for Joe Biden] (Biden's name is handwritten on the blank line). ''Reuters''. December 14, 2020.
| image2 = [https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-outdated-law-that-republicans-could-use-to-upend-the-electoral-college-vote-next-time A closeup of the 2020 Georgia Electoral College ballot for Kamala Harris] (using a format in which Harris's name is checked on the pre-printed card). ''The New Yorker''. December 18, 2020.
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83zDGB5oceg 2020 California State Electoral College meeting], YouTube video. ''Reuters''. December 14, 2020.
}}

The Electoral College never meets as one body. Electors meet in their respective [[List of capitals in the United States#State capitals|state capitals]] (electors for the District of Columbia meet within the District) on the same day (set by Congress as the Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December) at which time they cast their electoral votes on separate ballots for president and vice president.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment12/|title=Twelfth Amendment|work=[[FindLaw]]|access-date=August 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment23/|title=Twenty-third Amendment|work=[[FindLaw]]|access-date=August 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/uscode/3/1/7|title=U.S.C. §&nbsp;7 : US Code – Section 7: Meeting and vote of electors|work=[[FindLaw]]|access-date=August 26, 2010}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}<ref name="electoral2022"/>

Although procedures in each state vary slightly, the electors generally follow a similar series of steps, {{citation needed span|and the Congress has constitutional authority to regulate the procedures the states follow.|date=March 2021}} The meeting is opened by the election certification official—often that state's [[Secretary of state (U.S. state government)|secretary of state]] or equivalent—who reads the [[certificate of ascertainment]]. This document sets forth who was chosen to cast the electoral votes. The attendance of the electors is taken and any vacancies are noted in writing. The next step is the selection of a president or chairman of the meeting, sometimes also with a vice chairman. The electors sometimes choose a secretary, often not an elector, to take the minutes of the meeting. In many states, political officials give short speeches at this point in the proceedings.{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

When the time for balloting arrives, the electors choose one or two people to act as tellers. Some states provide for the placing in nomination of a candidate to receive the electoral votes (the candidate for president of the political party of the electors). Each elector submits a written ballot with the name of a candidate for president. Ballot formats vary between the states: in [[New Jersey]] for example, the electors cast ballots by checking the name of the candidate on a pre-printed card. In [[North Carolina]], the electors write the name of the candidate on a blank card. The tellers count the ballots and announce the result. The next step is the casting of the vote for vice president, which follows a similar pattern.{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}

Under the Electoral Count Act (updated and codified in {{usc|3|9}}), each state's electors must complete six certificates of vote. Each Certificate of Vote (or ''Certificate of the Vote'') must be signed by all of the electors and a certificate of ascertainment must be attached to each of the certificates of vote. Each Certificate of Vote must include the names of those who received an electoral vote for either the office of president or of vice president. The electors certify the Certificates of Vote, and copies of the certificates are then sent in the following fashion:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/state_responsibilities.html#vote|title=U.S. Electoral College – For State Officials|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=November 7, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025053914/http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/state_responsibilities.html#vote|archive-date=October 25, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2024}}
* One is sent by [[registered mail]] to the [[President of the Senate]] (who usually is the incumbent [[vice president of the United States]]);
* Two are sent by registered mail to the [[Archivist of the United States]];
* Two are sent to the [[Secretary of state (U.S. state government)|state's secretary of state]]; and
* One is sent to the chief judge of the [[United States district court]] where those electors met.

A staff member of the president of the Senate collects the certificates of vote as they arrive and prepares them for the joint session of the Congress. The certificates are arranged—unopened—in alphabetical order and placed in two special mahogany boxes. [[Alabama]] through [[Missouri]] (including the [[District of Columbia]]) are placed in one box and [[Montana]] through [[Wyoming]] are placed in the other box.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28555802|title=Congress meets to count electoral votes|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=January 9, 2009|website=[[NBC News]]|access-date=April 5, 2012}}</ref>

Before 1950, the [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]'s office oversaw the certifications. Since then, the Office of Federal Register in the Archivist's office reviews them to make sure the documents sent to the archive and Congress match, and that all formalities have been followed, sometimes requiring states to correct the documents.<ref name=Zak/>

==== Faithless electors ====
{{main|Faithless elector}}

An elector votes for each office, but at least one of these votes (president or vice president) must be cast for a person who is not a resident of the same state as that elector.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kuroda|first=Tadahisa|year=1994|title=The Origins of the Twelfth Amendment: The Electoral College in the Early Republic, 1787–1804|publisher=Greenwood|isbn=978-0-313-29151-7|page=168}}</ref> A "faithless elector" is one who does not cast an electoral vote for the candidate of the party for whom that elector pledged to vote. Faithless electors are comparatively rare because electors are generally chosen among those who are already personally committed to a party and party's candidate.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Linda S. |date=November 2, 2020 |title=Electors seldom go rogue in casting a state's votes for president |language=en-US |url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/verify/verify-faithless-electors-rare/507-8f5e13fb-2dc8-4ad3-93b0-c2c4b31ffebe |access-date=2020-11-09}}</ref>

Thirty-three [[U.S. state|states]] plus the [[District of Columbia]] have laws against faithless electors,<ref>{{cite web|title=Faithless Elector State Laws|url=https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_elector_state_laws|website=Fair Vote|access-date=July 25, 2020}}</ref> which were first enforced after the 2016 election, where [[Faithless electors in the 2016 United States presidential election|ten electors voted or attempted to vote contrary]] to their pledges. Faithless electors have never changed the outcome of a U.S. election for president. Altogether, 23,529 electors have taken part in the Electoral College as of the 2016 election. Only 165 electors have cast votes for someone other than their party's nominee. Of that group, 71 did so because the nominee had died{{snd}}63 Democratic Party electors in [[1872 United States presidential election|1872]], when presidential nominee [[Horace Greeley]] died; and eight Republican Party electors in [[1912 United States presidential election|1912]], when vice presidential nominee [[James S. Sherman]] died.<ref>{{cite web|title=Faithless Electors|last=Penrose|first=Drew|date=March 19, 2020|url=https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_electors|website=Fair Vote|access-date=March 19, 2020|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209184600/https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_electors|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While faithless electors have never changed the outcome of any presidential election, there are two occasions where the vice presidential election has been influenced by faithless electors:
* In the [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 election]], 18 electors pledged to the Federalist Party ticket cast their first vote as pledged for John Adams, electing him president, but did not cast their second vote for his running mate Thomas Pinckney. As a result, Adams attained 71 electoral votes, Jefferson received 68, and Pinckney received 59, meaning Jefferson, rather than Pinckney, became vice president.<ref>Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin, 2004. p. 514.</ref>
* In the [[1836 United States presidential election|1836 election]], Virginia's 23 electors, who were pledged to [[Richard Mentor Johnson]], voted instead for former U.S. senator [[William Smith (South Carolina senator)|William Smith]], which left Johnson one vote short of the majority needed to be elected. In accordance with the Twelfth Amendment, a contingent election was held in the Senate between the top two receivers of electoral votes, Johnson and [[Francis Granger]], for vice president, with Johnson being elected on the first ballot.<ref name=SB12192016NCC>{{cite web|last=Bomboy|first=Scott|title=The one election where Faithless Electors made a difference|date=December 19, 2016|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-one-election-where-faithless-electors-made-a-difference|work=Constitution Daily|publisher=National Constitution Center|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|access-date=March 17, 2020}}</ref>
Some constitutional scholars argued that state restrictions would be struck down if challenged based on Article II and the Twelfth Amendment.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/qanda-electors-almost-always-follow-the-vote-in-their-state/2016/11/19/946f3906-ae76-11e6-8f19-21a1c65d2043_story.html|title=Q&A: Electors almost always follow the vote in their state|last=Barrow|first=Bill|date=November 19, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=November 19, 2016|archive-date=November 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120011352/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/qanda-electors-almost-always-follow-the-vote-in-their-state/2016/11/19/946f3906-ae76-11e6-8f19-21a1c65d2043_story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] has consistently ruled that state restrictions are allowed under the Constitution. In ''[[Ray v. Blair]]'', {{ussc|343|214|1952}}, the court ruled in favor of state laws requiring electors to pledge to vote for the winning candidate, as well as removing electors who refuse to pledge. As stated in the ruling, electors are acting as a functionary of the state, not the federal government. In ''[[Chiafalo v. Washington]]'', [https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-465_i425.pdf 591 U.S. ___] (2020), and a related case, the court held that electors must vote in accord with their state's laws.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 6, 2020|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rules-faithless-electors-can-t-go-rogue-electoral-n1231394|title=Supreme Court rules 'faithless electors' can't go rogue at Electoral College|website=NBC News|last=Williams|first=Pete|access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Howe|first=Amy|date=July 6, 2020|title=Opinion analysis: Court upholds 'faithless elector' laws|work=SCOTUSblog|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/07/opinion-analysis-court-upholds-faithless-elector-laws/|access-date=July 6, 2020}}</ref> Faithless electors also may face censure from their political party, as they are usually chosen based on their perceived party loyalty.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Guzmán|first=Natasha|date=October 22, 2016|title=How Are Electors Selected For The Electoral College? This Historic Election Process Decides The Winner|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/191061-how-are-electors-selected-for-the-electoral-college-this-historic-election-process-decides-the-winner|access-date=July 6, 2020|website=Bustle}}</ref>