2.11 Electoral College Lesson

Every four years, Americans vote on the first Tuesday of November for President. However, they are technically voting for 538 electors who, according to the system laid out by the Constitution, meet in their respective states and vote for President and Vice President. These people, the electors, comprise the Electoral College, and their votes are then counted by the President of the Senate in a joint session of Congress.

Why did the framers choose this system? There are a few reasons: First, they feared factions and worried that voters wouldn't make informed decisions. They didn't want to tell states how to conduct their elections. There were also many who feared that the states with the largest voting populations would essentially end up choosing the President. Others preferred the idea of Congress choosing the President, and there were proposals at the time for a national popular vote. The Electoral College was a compromise.

There's an elector for every member of the House of Representatives (435) and Senate (100), plus an additional three for people who live in the District of Columbia. Each state gets at least 3 electors. There are 538 electors in total. California, the most populous state, has 53 congressmen and two senators, so they get 55 electoral votes.Texas, the largest reliably Republican-leaning state, has 36 congressmen and two senators, so they get 38 electoral votes.