Each state receives a number of Electors that is equal to the number of its U.S. Senators and Representatives. There are always only two Senators, however the number of Representatives changes according to the population of each state.

• Each state’s political party (or independent candidate) submits to the state’s chief election official a list of Electors pledged to the presidential candidate. Major political parties usually select Electors during state party conventions or via appointment from state party leaders. Independent candidates simply designate their Electors.
  
  

• In order to protect the balance between the legislative and executive branches of government, no member of Congress or federal government employee may serve as an Elector.
  
  

• After their caucuses and primaries, the major parties nominate their candidates for President and Vice President in their national conventions, usually in the summer preceding an election. Independent candidates follow the procedures outlined by their individual state laws. The names of the nominated candidates are then officially submitted to each state’s chief election official so that they can appear on the general election ballot.
  
  

• On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years divisible by four, voters in each state cast their ballots for the Electors representing their choice for President and Vice President -- not for the actual President and Vice President.
  
  

• The party that wins the most popular votes in the state also wins the right to choose their party’s state Electors, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, where two Electors are chosen by statewide popular vote and the remainder by the popular vote within each Congressional district.
  
  

• On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December, each state's Electors meet in their respective state capitals and cast their electoral votes -- one for President and one for Vice President.
  
  

• In order to prevent Electors from voting out of personal bias for their home state, at least one of their votes must be for a candidate from outside their state.
  
  

• The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each state to the President of the Senate, who, on the following January 6, opens and reads them before both houses of Congress. This procedure means that neither the President nor the Vice President is voted in on what most people think of as Election Day -- the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in an election year.
  
  

• The candidate with an absolute majority of electoral votes (one over half of the total) is then declared President. The candidate for Vice President is then selected in the same way. Should no one candidate win by an absolute majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives selects the President from the three top contenders, with each state having one vote. Once again, an absolute majority is required to elect the President. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of votes, the Senate selects the President from the top two candidates.

• On January 20, the elected President and Vice President are sworn into office at 12:00 noon sharp on the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.

See also

• Electoral College
• A Fledgling Nation
• Emulating Rome
• Representation & Distribution