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*Political parties nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates, under rules established by each party.

*Political parties nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates, under rules established by each party.

*On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, people choose the electors of their state based on the Presidential preference announced by each candidate for elector. (Most states use a "short form ballot" where the name of the candidates for President and Vice President appear on the ballot instead of the names of the candidates for elector.)

*On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, people choose the electors of their state based on the Presidential preference announced by each candidate for elector. (Most states use a "short form ballot" where the name of the candidates for President and Vice President appear on the ballot instead of the names of the candidates for elector.)

*On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December, electors of each state meet in their state capital to cast separate votes for the president and vice president. Many states have laws that require the electors to vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates that they had promised to support.

*On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December, electors of each state meet in their state capital to cast separate votes for the president and vice president. Many states have laws that require the electors to vote for the presidential and vice presidential candidates that they had promised to support, but in most cases the electors are highly loyal to their party and would be censured or expelled if they voted otherwise. (The term for an elector who does not vote as pledged is "faithless elector"; although there have been 150 such electors in history -- including 16 in the 2016 election, five of whom voted against the losing candidate Hillary Clinton -- no such protest vote has caused the would-be winner to lose.)

*The ballots are than sealed and sent to the President of the Senate (the [[Vice President of the United States of America|Vice President]]), who opens them on January 6.

*The ballots are than sealed and sent to the President of the Senate (the [[Vice President of the United States of America|Vice President]]), who opens them on January 6.

*Candidates who win the majority of ballots for president and vice president will then be declared the winners. If no one wins the majority of the ballots for president, then the [[House of Representatives]] makes the choice from among the top three contenders. In this situation, each state's delegation has one vote and the majority of the states will have to elect the president. If there is no winner for vice president the senate will select between the top two contenders.

*Candidates who win the majority of ballots for president and vice president will then be declared the winners. If no one wins the majority of the ballots for president, then the [[House of Representatives]] makes the choice from among the top three contenders. In this situation, each state's delegation has one vote and the majority of the states will have to elect the president. If there is no winner for vice president the senate will select between the top two contenders.

The number of electors from each state is determined as being the same as the combined number of that state's [[United States Senate|senators]] and representatives.  As the number of senators is always two, and the number of representatives is roughly proportional to the state's population, this means that larger states have more electors than smaller states, but smaller states have a ''proportionately'' higher number of electors.  This mechanism was devised by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between large states (who felt they should have a greater say than the smaller states) and small states (who feared a straight proportional number would leave them too little influence).<ref>http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/8176.html</ref>

The number of electors from each state is determined as being the same as the combined number of that state's [[United States Senate|senators]] and representatives.  As the number of senators is always two, and the number of representatives is roughly proportional to the state's population, this means that larger states have more electors than smaller states, but smaller states have a ''proportionately'' higher number of electors.  This mechanism was devised by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between large states (who felt they should have a greater say than the smaller states) and small states (who feared a straight proportional number would leave them too little influence).<ref>http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/8176.html</ref>

Nearly all the states vote on a winner-take-all basis, such that whoever wins a [[plurality]] of the votes in that state then receives all of the Electoral College votes for that state. The only two exceptions are [[Maine]] and [[Nebraska]], which divide their electoral votes along congressional districts. Both states would therefore be able to split their share of votes between candidates. In practise however, this never happened until 2008, when [[Barack Obama]] won Nebraska's second congressional district, therefore winning one of Nebraska's five votes. The remaining four were won by [[John McCain]].

Nearly all the states vote on a winner-take-all basis, such that whoever wins a [[plurality]] of the votes in that state then receives all of the Electoral College votes for that state. The only two exceptions are [[Maine]] and [[Nebraska]], which award two electoral votes to the statewide winner, and the winner of each congressional district gets the vote for that district. Both states would therefore be able to split their share of votes between candidates. In practise however, this never happened until 2008, when [[Barack Obama]] won Nebraska's second congressional district, therefore winning one of Nebraska's five votes. The remaining four were won by [[John McCain]].  A proposed plan (preferred by many liberal-leaning states) would have states agreeing to select the winner of the national popular vote (even if the loser won the most votes in that state); the plan would not take effect until states comprising 270 electoral votes (a majority of the 538 needed) have agreed to it, and it would still require Congressional approval since it is an interstate compact.

[[Image:Electoral map 2012-2020.svg.png|thumb|300px|right|Electoral votes by state, click for larger image.]]

[[Image:Electoral map 2012-2020.svg.png|thumb|300px|right|Electoral votes by state, click for larger image.]]

In 1888, [[Grover Cleveland]] got a plurality of the popular vote (by a margin of 110,476) but [[Benjamin Harrison]] won the electoral college vote, and became president. In 1960, [[Richard Nixon]] got a plurality of the popular vote, unless you count votes for [[John F. Kennedy]] that actually went to electors that were pledged to vote for someone else. In the 2000 election, [[Al Gore]] narrowly got a plurality of the popular vote, and [[George W. Bush]] narrowly won the electoral vote. After a careful recount of the election results in [[Florida]], [[George W. Bush]] was declared the 43rd President of the [[United States]].  In the 2016 election, [[Hillary Clinton]] won the popular vote and [[Donald Trump]] won the electoral vote.

 

 

In 1888, [[Grover Cleveland]] got a plurality of the popular vote (by a margin of 110,476) but [[Benjamin Harrison]] won the electoral college vote, and became president. In 1960, [[Richard Nixon]] got a plurality of the popular vote, unless you count votes for [[John F. Kennedy]] that actually went to electors that were pledged to vote for someone else. In the 2000 election, [[Al Gore]] narrowly got a plurality of the popular vote, and [[George W. Bush]] narrowly won the electoral vote. After a careful recount of the election results in [[Florida]], [[George W. Bush]] was declared the 43rd President of the [[United States]].  In the 2016 election, [[Hillary Clinton]] won the popular vote and [[Donald Trump]] won the electoral vote.

==History==

==History==