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  • Electoral College
    Electoral College
    noun
    none the Electoral College or the electoral college (in the United States) a group of individuals formed anew for each general election with the express function of electing the president and vice president: made up of a proportional number of members from each state, chosen by each state’s voters from the respective slates selected by that state’s political parties and usually expected to cast their vote in favor of the candidate who won the majority in their state or district.
  • electoral college
    electoral college
    noun
    (often capitals) a body of electors chosen by the voters who formally elect the president and vice president

Electoral College

American  
[ih-lek-ter-uhl kol-ij, ee-lek-tawr-uhl] / ɪˈlɛk tər əl ˈkɒl ɪdʒ, iˌlɛkˈtɔr əl /
Or electoral college

noun

  1. none the Electoral College or the electoral college (in the United States) a group of individuals formed anew for each general election with the express function of electing the president and vice president: made up of a proportional number of members from each state, chosen by each state’s voters from the respective slates selected by that state’s political parties and usually expected to cast their vote in favor of the candidate who won the majority in their state or district.

  2. a group of individuals whose function is to elect one or more leaders of government, as in Estonia, Nepal, and some other countries.


electoral college British  

noun

  1. (often capitals) a body of electors chosen by the voters who formally elect the president and vice president

  2. any body of electors with similar functions

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Electoral College Cultural  
  1. The presidential electors who meet after the citizens vote for president and cast ballots for the president and vice president. Each state is granted the same number of electors as it has senators (see United States Senate) and representatives combined. These electors, rather than the public, actually elect the president and the vice president. The Founding Fathers assumed that electors would exercise discretion and not necessarily be bound by the popular vote, but the rise of political parties undermined this assumption. Electors are now pledged in advance to vote for the candidate of their party, and nearly always do so. Thus, the vote of the Electoral College is largely a formality.


Usage

What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is an indirect voting system in the United States in which electors from each state, appointed based on the popular vote, go on to vote for the president. How is Electoral College pronounced?[ ih-lek-ter-uhl kol-ij ]

Discover More

There have been several attempts to abolish the Electoral College. In the 2000 presidential election, the candidate with the plurality of popular votes lost the electoral vote, a situation that also occurred in the 1876 and 1888 elections.

Etymology

Origin of Electoral College

An Americanism first recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I’ve gone through these elections where the electoral college is very close.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

He won the popular vote and the electoral college.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2025

The former actor swept into the White House with an electoral college landslide.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2024

And unlike in 2016, when he beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he won the popular vote and the needed support in the electoral college.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 29, 2024

The method of choosing electors to that odd inspiration called the electoral college varied from state to state.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis