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As the candidates for the American presidency jockey for position, seek endorsements, and ask for money, various controversies and issues arise, often unexpectedly, to trip them up and make them scramble for an explanation. Sometimes these controversies are humorous, sometimes they are serious, or even tragic. This page is a portal to pages chronicling the history of the 2008 Presidential Election as it unfolds, from the opening shots of each individual campaign, up to Election Day. November 4, 2008.
What is the Electoral College?
In the American Political System, the true winner of the Presidential Race is not determined by simply adding up the vote totals from each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia. No, each state and D.C. hold its own presidential election and the winner of each of those separate elections (all held on the same day of course, the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of a Presidential Election year), takes all of what are called "Electoral Votes" in each state and district. Maine and Nebraska do it differently where a portion of the electoral votes goes to the presidential candidate who wins each congressional district. Nationwide, a candidate needs to win a total, from among the states, of at least 270 electoral votes in order to win the election to be the next President of the United States.
The The Electoral College, as the whole group of Electors nationwide is called, is made up of 538 members from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. When citizens vote for the presidential candidate of their choice, in reality they are really voting for a person called an "Elector" who is chosen by the candidates' campaign organizations to represent their candidate. For example, in Washington State, which has a total of eleven Electors, there are eleven people representing the Republican candidate, John McCain, and another eleven representing the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. If a majority (or even a plurality-but that's another story) of the state's voters choose Obama, then all eleven of Obama's chosen representatives become that state's official Electors. So, what happens then? On the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December, the Electors meet in each state (not as a national group, but as individual state groups), and formally cast the "real" votes for President and Vice-President. The official Elector's votes are then sent to the House of Representatives where the President of the Senate (usually the incumbent Vice-President), officially reads the results and declares the winner.
The rules governing the Electoral College are found in the United States Constitution in Article 2, Section 1, and in the 12th Amendment. Electors meet on the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December , which, in 2008, is December 15. These dates are set by law in the US Code, at 3 USC 7.
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