What is the Electoral College?
It's not a place. It's a bunch of people.
Unlike in most elections, the person who becomes president is not necessarily the candidate who wins the most votes. Instead, the election of the president of the United States is a two-step process.
First, voters cast ballots on Election Day in each state. In all but two states, the candidate who gets the most votes wins ALL the "electoral votes" for that state, and gets that number of voters (or "electors") for president. (Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions; they allocate some of their votes proportionally.)
Second, the electors gather in December and vote for president. The person who receives a majority of votes from this group, which we call the Electoral College, becomes president.
Details? Three are a total of 538 electoral votes. Each state gets a certain number of them based on the size of its congressional delegation. Each state gets one vote for each of its two US Senators, plus a vote for each member it has in the House of Representatives. Because the states get an electoral vote for each senator regardless of the state's population size, small states wind up with more voting power per person.
The results of the election aren't official until the President of the Senate counts the votes out loud at a special joint session of Congress held in early January.
Electoral College Fast Facts from House.gov.
Did you know that there have been FIVE TIMES that a candidate has won the popular vote and lost the election?
National Archives and Records Administration: The Electoral College.
The Electoral College is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Its website has every detail you can imagine about how the Electoral College works. Something you'll learn if you visit: "One of the striking things about the electoral college process is that so little of it is codified in Federal law. Article II, section 1, of the Constitution simply directs each state to appoint electors. A few provisions in the U.S. Code set out specific duties for the Archivist and the states to perform, but most of the procedures are a matter of state law or custom."
Some say we should stop using the Electoral College to choose presidents and move to direct elections, where the person who gets the most votes wins. Other say it should be reformed. Read about the issue.
Brookings Institution: It's Time to Abolish the Electoral College.
This 2020 position paper outlines the history and original logic behind the Electoral College and argues that the Electoral College is no longer is a constructive force in American politics.
American Bar Association Fact Check: Can the Electoral College be abolished?
Short answer: not easily. Read about what it would take and how people have been trying for the last couple of hundred years.
The National Popular Vote Bill.
This bill would preserve the Electoral College but guarantee the presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. It has been enacted into law by 15 states and Washington, DC.
Faithless Electors.
That's not a band name—it's when electors vote for a candidate who didn't win the popular vote in their state. Some states have laws against this. Others don't. Watch this video from the Federalist Society about the pros and cons of allowing faithless electors.
Find out how many Americans favor abolishing the Electoral College
Also, see how that number has changed over the years, and whether Republicans or Democrats are more likely to favor the Electoral College system.