The Electoral College votes to confirm results for the 2024 presidential election today. Here’s what to know.
On Tuesday, presidential electors at U.S. statehouses will gather to cast their votes for their candidate. Electoral votesformally confirmed as President-elect donald trump’s victory Defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
It was largely a ceremonial vote, the next step after the presidential election. When Americans cast their ballots on Election Day, they are technically voting for electors committed to supporting the president and vice president of their choice.
How does the Electoral College work?
management rules Electoral College Overview Depend on twelfth amendment.
According to the amendment, the presidential electors “shall list on the ballot the persons who voted for President and on a separate ballot the persons who voted for Vice President, and shall make a separate list of all persons who voted for President , and all those who voted for Vice-President, and the number of votes cast by each, they shall sign and certify the list.”
Political parties select their electoral lists before a general election.
After Election Day, all ballots are counted and then certified by states. according to Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022the deadline for certifying results is set six days before the electors’ scheduled meeting, which is traditionally the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December.
The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 also Each state is required to determine State officials (the governor, unless otherwise noted) are responsible for submitting a “certificate of determination” that identifies the state’s electors and includes security features.
What are the Electoral College results in 2024?
Trump won 312 votes and Harris won 226 votes. View state-by-state results here and below.
Nationwide, Trump also won the popular votewinning 77.2 million votes, and Harris winning 75 million votes.
How many electoral votes does each state have?
this The Electoral College consists of 538 electorsand requires a majority of 270 votes to become president.
Each state’s electoral votes are equal to its number of representatives in the House of Representatives plus its two senators.
While the Electoral College tally has remained at 538 since 1964, each state’s vote count changes after the decennial census to match congressional apportionments. Between the 2020 election and the 2024 election, Texas received two Electoral College votes, while five other states — Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon — Each received one electoral vote. Six states lost their electoral votes: California, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The chart below shows the changes by state between the 2020 election and the 2024 election.
Must every elector vote based on state election results?
Forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., are winner-take-all, so the winner of that state’s popular vote wins all of that state’s electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska allocate electors based on the popular vote winner in each congressional district and then determine two “at-large” electors based on the statewide popular vote winner.
Electors should cast their votes based on the popular vote in their state. The Constitution does not require electors to vote for the popular vote winner, but most states have laws invalidating the votes of “faithless electors.” this Supreme Court to rule in 2020 States can punish these “faithless voters.”
according to fair voteSince the creation of the Electoral College, 90 presidential electors have cast “aberrant” votes, although most of those were due to the death of a party nominee rather than a true deviation from the voters’ intent.
According to FairVote, there were also 75 dishonest electors in the vice presidential election, and there have been a total of 165 dishonest electors in history.
After the 2020 election, the so-called “fake” Republican electors in seven battleground states After President Biden won he met anyway and cast a fake vote for Trump. Georgia, Michigan and Nevada have filed state criminal charges against fake voters. exist Accuses Trump of trying to overturn election resultsSpecial counsel Jack Smith said the fake electors were part of a plan to overturn the election that was orchestrated by pro-Trump lawyers with Trump’s support. those charges Has been fired Since Trump won the 2024 election.
What’s next after Electoral College certification?
Once the results are signed and certified, they will be sent to Harris, who serves as Senate President. Voting certificates must be received by the fourth Wednesday in December (this year it is December 25). The Archivist will then send these certificates to Congress on or before January 3, 2025, when the new Congress convenes.
On January 6, 2025, Congress met in a joint session to count the Electoral College votes under Harris’ supervision. After the votes are counted, the Vice President declares the winner of the election.
Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance will be sworn in at noon on January 20, 2025, at the inauguration ceremony.
