Electoral College

Or e·lec·tor·al col·lege

[ih-lek-ter-uhl kol-ij, ee-lek-tawr-uhl]

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

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

Electoral College

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.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Electoral College¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

The candidates representing the 50 districts where voting took place all had to be electoral college members.

From BBC

There will be more than 1,500 candidates, who must also be electoral college members.

From BBC

At least 20% of the electoral college members were required to be women.

From BBC

Electoral College system—are effectively sidelined when it’s time to pick the president.

From Slate

Gore won the popular vote by nearly 544,000 votes but Bush won the electoral college vote 271-266 in a deeply contentious election that reached the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

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 ]