US Elections 2020: What is the Electoral College?

The United States presidential election on November 3 is rapidly approaching and President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, are in the final stretch of campaigning. But to understand how the country’s next leader will be chosen, one must first understand a system known as the Electoral College. In the US, the president and vice president are not decided by which candidate receives the most votes overall in the country, even though US voters do directly select a preferred choice on their ballots. Instead, it all comes down to Electoral College voters. Who are these Electoral College voters? Under this state-based system, every state has a group of “electors” who are chosen in most cases by political parties in that state. These electors actually cast the deciding votes for the presidential and vice presidential candidates. In 48 states, these electors “pledge” to vote for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates that receive the most votes in their respective state. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">