What is the Electoral College?

Hello!  You may notice this buzzword “Electoral College” which appears often during the 2020 election.   I will sign “EC” for short.

The United States uses the electoral college to elect presidents.  

Each state is allotted one elector for each U.S. representative and senator it has.  The number of congressional seats each state gets is determined by the decennial census. This means that because each state has two senators, they get at least two electors. The number of congressional seats each state gets is determined by the decennial census. 

Trump or Biden needs to win a majority of 538 electoral votes -- 270 -- to be elected president.  

In 2016 with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Clinton received 2.8 million more votes than Trump in a nationwide tally, 

Trump received 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227.

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There are certain states that have historically voted for a Republican candidate, these states are known as “red” states.  There are certain states that have historically voted for a Democratic candidate, these states are known as “blue” states. Then there are states that swing either way during election seasons, they are known as “swing states” or “battleground states.” 

In the next few weeks,  we will see Trump and Biden travel and campaign more often in the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, and Wisconsin. 

Trump or Biden will have to maintain their “red” or “blue” states’ votes for them and also try to win the battleground states in order to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to be president.

That’s all for now.   I will see you next time.