Common questions

Does the Electoral College have to vote based on popular vote?

Does the Electoral College have to vote based on popular vote?

There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States. Some States, however, require electors to cast their votes according to the popular vote. No elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.

What does winning the Electoral College mean?

The number of electors each state gets is equal to its total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress. A total of 538 electors form the Electoral College. Each elector casts one vote following the general election. The candidate who gets 270 votes or more wins.

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What is the popular vote mean?

Popular vote, in an indirect election, is the total number of votes received in the first-phase election, as opposed to the votes cast by those elected to take part in the final election.

How many electors does DC have?

Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is allocated three electors and treated like a State for purposes of the Electoral College.

What does winning the popular vote mean?

In United States presidential elections it connotes the total number or percentage of votes cast for a candidate by voters in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., as distinguished from the electoral college vote which decides the outcome.

What does winning the electoral college mean?

What is the popular vote system?

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

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Do you vote for president?

In other U.S. elections, candidates are elected directly by popular vote. But the president and vice president are not elected directly by citizens. Instead, they’re chosen by “electors” through a process called the Electoral College. It was a compromise between a popular vote by citizens and a vote in Congress.