Electoral College

Where Does My Vote Go?

Congratulations! The moment you pulled the lever or punched a hole in your ballot, you became an active member of a democracy. Your vote might single-handedly put the best candidate in office. Or will it?

Once you cast your vote for a presidential candidate in November, that vote doesn’t really go to that candidate. In fact, each vote cast during the popular election really goes toward electing a list of electors in your state who have pledged to vote for your candidate. Each candidate gets a slate of electors. Presidential candidates are indirectly elected through what is called the Electoral College. The Electoral College is a group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president.

Each state has as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. For example, if Ohio has 18 representatives and two senators in Congress, then Ohio has 20 electors. No matter what, each state has no less than three electors. Even Washington, D.C., which has no representatives or senators, receives three electors.

The Electoral College is as old as the Constitution. It was created by the Founders to reduce the possibility that people might vote for a candidate based on emotion rather than logic. Also, with the Electoral College smaller states are represented in elections just as strongly as larger states. With the exception of Maine and Nebraska, almost all states abide by a “winner-take-all” system—the candidate with the most popular votes in the state gets all of that state’s electoral votes. After the popular election, all of the winning electors meet in their state’s capital in December to officially cast their vote for president and vice president. Electors are technically allowed to vote for whomever they choose and not just who they have pledged to vote for. Very few electors have broken their promise.

Once all of the popular votes have been cast, the electors meet in their state capitals in December to officially cast their votes for president and vice president. Electoral votes are sent to Congress to be counted (a majority of 270 electoral votes are needed to win; there are currently 538 electors). The president of the Senate officially announces the winner in January.

2000 Presidential Election: Electoral Vote Totals

• George W. Bush and Richard Cheney received 271 Electoral Votes
• Albert Gore, Jr. and Joseph Lieberman received 266 Electoral Votes

Allocation of Electoral Votes based on the 2000 Census
Total: 538; Majority Needed to Elect: 270

Source: U.S. National Archives & Records Administration