As the United States gears up for another presidential election on November 5, it’s typical for many Nigerians to wonder how the U.S. Electoral College elects the President of the United States (POTUS). Unlike Nigeria, where the winner of a general election is determined by the highest votes and a requirement to secure at least 25% of votes in two-thirds of the states, the U.S. uses a unique process called the Electoral College to elect its president.
The U.S. Electoral College is a process (not a place, as in “college” or what we call “secondary school”) established by the Constitution over 200 years ago. The Electoral College is a group of representatives known as ‘electors’ chosen by voters in each U.S. state to formally elect the president and vice president, requiring a majority of 270 out of 538 electoral votes for a candidate to win. The system aims to balance the influence between highly populated and less populated states, giving all states a say in the election of the president. Here’s a closer look at how it works:
Electoral Votes and the “Magic Number” 270
The United States has 538 electors in total. This number represents the sum of its congressional seats: 435 in the House of Representatives, 100 in the Senate, plus three for the District of Columbia. To win the presidency, a candidate must secure at least 270 electoral votes, a simple majority of the total 538. Each state is allocated a certain number of electoral votes based on its population size, with larger states like California having more electors than smaller states like Wyoming.
The Role of State Voters
On Election Day, U.S. citizens vote in their respective states, casting ballots not directly for their preferred presidential candidate but for a group of electors pledged to that candidate. These electors represent the candidate’s party that wins the most votes in that state. In almost every state, this is done on a “winner-takes-all” basis, where the candidate with the majority of votes wins all of the state’s electoral votes.
In Maine and Nebraska, a proportional system allocates their electoral votes based on district outcomes, i.e., one electoral vote is awarded to the winner of each congressional district, while the remaining two votes go to the statewide winner.
The Electoral College Vote
While the popular vote will be counted on Election Day on November 5, the Electoral College will formally cast and count its votes in December. This delay allows time to finalize election results, resolve any disputes, and officially certify the electors from each state before they meet to cast their electoral votes for the president and vice president.
In December, after the popular vote is counted, the chosen electors meet in their state capitals to cast their votes for president and vice president. These votes are then sent to the U.S. Congress, where they are officially counted in January. If a candidate reaches the majority of 270 votes, they are declared the winner and will be inaugurated as president on January 20th.
This process is outlined in the Constitution, and the January 20th inauguration date was set by the 20th Amendment, which aimed to shorten the “lame-duck” period between the election and the start of the new president’s term, allowing a smoother transition of power and ensuring the new administration is ready to govern in the new year.
What if No Candidate Reaches 270?
In rare cases where no candidate reaches the 270-elector threshold, the decision goes to the U.S. House of Representatives. Here, each state’s delegation gets one vote, and the candidate who secures a majority of the states wins the presidency. This contingency procedure is rarely invoked but remains an essential part of the system.
Yes, there has been one instance where no presidential candidate reached the required majority. When this happened, the 270 threshold had not been established. It was the U.S. election of 1824, and none of the candidates achieved a majority in the Electoral College. Andrew Jackson had the most electoral votes, but since he did not have a majority, the decision went to the House of Representatives. The House chose John Quincy Adams as president, even though Jackson had more electoral and popular votes. This is one of the rare instances where the House determined the election outcome due to an Electoral College deadlock.
There are two other unique situations in the Electoral College worth mentioning. One is the 1800 election, with Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr receiving an equal number of electoral votes, resulting in a tie. The House of Representatives broke the tie, choosing Jefferson as president after 36 ballots. This led to the 12th Amendment, which established separate votes for president and vice president in the Electoral College.
Another is the contingent election threats in several elections, like in 1876 and 2000, where disputes arose over electoral votes. In 1876, a special commission awarded disputed votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, allowing him to reach a majority without the House intervening. The 2000 election ended when the Supreme Court’s ‘Bush v. Gore’ decision halted Florida’s recount, awarding George W. Bush the state’s electoral votes and the presidency by a narrow margin, despite Al Gore winning the popular vote.
These instances highlight the potential for the Electoral College system to produce unusual outcomes, but the 1824 election remains the only time the House formally chose the president due to an electoral deadlock.
Why the Electoral College?
It’s okay to argue about the complexity of this electoral system. The Founding Fathers established the Electoral College to ensure that less populated states would have a voice and that a president would have to appeal to a broad range of voters nationwide rather than focusing solely on areas with high population density. This makes sense; although it has faced criticism for occasionally resulting in a candidate winning the presidency without winning the popular vote.
In 2016, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency through the Electoral College despite losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. Despite the complexity and objectivity of arguments, the system has remained in place for centuries.
Two More Days to go
The Electoral College process often creates suspense, as a candidate can win the popular vote yet still lose the presidency if they fall short of the 270 electoral votes. As Nigerians observe the U.S. election with keen interest, understanding this unique process sheds light on how one of the world’s oldest democracies balances the voices of its people with the structure of its states.
In this case, the angst is over two broad options: the return of Donald Trump or the emergence of America’s first female president, Kamala Harris.
