Presidential Elections

The President of the United States is elected by the Electoral College and not directly by the population. Each state is assigned electoral votes based on the number of senators and representatives that state has in Congress. Each state has two Senators. The number of representatives is determined by the states population but is never less then 1. Thus small states with a small population are overly represented in the Electoral College. One candidate wins all of the electoral votes in a state.

When does the electoral college meet?

The Electoral College meets on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. Their votes are then counted again in the presence of Joint Meeting of Congress sixth day of January to certify the returns. The candidate that wins over 50% of the electoral votes becomes President of the United States.

What if no one wins the Majority of electoral votes?

In the case that no candidate wins the majority of electoral votes, the election is decided by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives votes by state. Thus every state in the House of Representative gets one vote.