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.
(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 /
Orelectoral 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.
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
(often capitals) a body of electors chosen by the voters who formally elect the president and vice president
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.
To get your own sense of how the states need to split, it’s useful to play around with an Electoral College counter—the New York Times has a good one here.
The last step that “One Person, One Vote” director Maximina Juson needed to complete her documentary on the Electoral College was to film the ceremonial certification of the states’ electoral votes.
This time, quiet lulls filled the Assembly chamber as all 54 of California’s electoral college votes were cast for Harris, the first California Democrat to become a presidential nominee.
