Question #0a0b7

1 Answer
Mar 21, 2017

It is composed of the electors who are indirectly elected by voters.

Explanation:

The electoral college is part of the American voting system, it means that voters do not elect their president directly. Unlike Switzerland the USA is no direct democracy.

The "winner takes it all" rule implies that whatever candidate wins the majority of votes in a given state wins all the electors assigned in this state(except in Maine Nebraska). Each state has a number of electors proportional to its population.

It is therefore possible for a candidate to win the popular vote without winning the election just like Al Gore in 2000. California has the highest number of electors(55) whereas Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas and Alaska only have three electors each.

Some states which vote Republican are nicknamed "red states" whereas Democratic states are called "blue states". Others are called "swing states", the most crucial ones being "Ohio" and "Florida", the latter very often determine the outcome of the election.