Brief The Electoral College

The Electoral College in 2024

The Electoral College will follow this schedule for the 2024 presidential election: 

• Spring and Summer 2024, Nomination of Electors: The political parties in each state nominate their electors. Parties and states have different processes, but a party’s presidential electors are generally loyal or consistent party members. The parties want to be confident that, if selected, their electors will cast their votes for the party’s nominee for president. 
• Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day: This is the final day for voting for president, or more precisely, for presidential electors (3 U.S.C. § 1). When voters cast a vote for a presidential candidate, they are also casting a vote for the slate of electors already selected by that candidate’s party. In 48 states if a majority of voters in a state vote for the Republican presidential candidate, the Republican slate of electors is chosen. If a majority vote for the Democratic presidential candidate, the Democratic slate of electors is chosen. (See Awarding Electoral Votes below for information on Nebraska and Maine, which have a different process for assigning electors.)  
• Dec. 10, 2024, Deadline for Resolving Election Disputes: All state recounts and court contests over presidential election results must be completed by this date (3 U.S.C. § 5). For most states, the date of certification for president is the same as for all contests; however, eight states (Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia) use a different certification deadline for presidential results that either directly references 3 USC § 5 or uses similar language. The Dec. 10 deadline requires disputes over the selection of presidential electors be resolved at a time known as the “safe harbor” deadline. For detailed information on state post-election processes, visit NCSL’s Canvass, Certification and Contested Election Deadlines and Voter Intent Laws webpage. 
• Dec. 16, 2024, Meeting of the Electors: Each state’s electors meet and cast their ballots for president and vice president. Each elector votes a ballot and signs it. The ballots are immediately sent to various places. One copy goes to the president of the U.S. Senate, who is also the vice president of the United States; this is the copy that will be officially counted later. Other copies go to the state’s secretary of state, the National Archives and Records Administration and the presiding judge in the district where the electors meet (this serves as a backup copy if the official copy is lost or destroyed). 
• Dec. 25, 2024, Deadline for Receipt of Ballots: The electors’ ballots from all states must be received by the president of the Senate by this date. There is no penalty for missing the deadline. (3 U.S.C. § 12) (Note: This date is likely to change based on the federal holiday for Christmas Day.) 
• Jan. 6, 2025, Counting of the Electoral Ballots: The U.S. Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes. (3 U.S.C. §15) 
• Jan. 20, 2025, Inauguration Day: The president-elect becomes the president of the United States. 

The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, in Division P (summarized here), requires that each state determine which state official—the governor unless specified otherwise—is responsible for submitting the “certificate of ascertainment” that identifies the state’s electors, and requires a security feature on the certificate, as determined by the state. 

Nomination of Electors 

The U.S. Constitution does not specify nomination procedures for presidential elector candidates. The two most common methods the states have adopted are nomination by state party convention and by state party committee. Generally, the parties select members known for their loyalty and service to the party, such as party leaders, state and local elected officials, and party activists. In some states, the electors’ names appear on the ballot along with the names of the candidates for president and vice president. In most states, however, electors’ names are not printed on the ballot. When voters cast their ballots for a candidate for president of the United States, they are actually voting for the presidential electors who were selected by that candidate’s party. 

Awarding Electoral Votes 

All 50 states and the District of Columbia use one of two methods for awarding their electoral votes: 

• Winner-Take-All System 
  In 48 states and the District of Columbia, when a candidate for president wins a state’s popular vote, that party’s entire slate of electors is selected. For example, Florida has 30 electoral votes. If the Republican presidential candidate wins the state’s popular vote on Election Day, regardless of the margin of victory, the 30 electors nominated by the Republican Party in Florida will be selected. These 30 people will gather on Dec. 16 to cast their votes for president of the United States. 
• District System 
  Maine and Nebraska are the only states that do not use a winner-take-all system. In these states, one electoral vote is awarded to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote in each congressional district, and the remaining two electoral votes are awarded to the candidates receiving the most votes statewide. It is possible under the district system for a state to split its electoral votes. This happened in 2008 in Nebraska: Barack Obama won the electoral vote in the congressional district including Omaha, while John McCain won in the state’s other two districts and won the statewide vote as well, securing the state’s two at-large electoral votes. Thus, when the Nebraska presidential electors met in December 2008, there were four Republican electors and one Democrat. The vote was split again in the 2020 election. 

Proposed Changes to the Electoral College 

Since the 2000 presidential election, every state has introduced bills to change the process for selecting electors. Between 2001 and 2006, most Electoral College reform bills proposed switching to the district system, though none passed. More recently, attention has largely shifted to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would allow states to bypass the Electoral College without amending the U.S. Constitution. When a state joins the compact, it promises to give all its electoral votes to the party that wins the national popular vote, rather than the party that wins the state popular vote. For more information, please visit NCSL’s National Popular Vote webpage.  

Abolishing the Electoral College and instead electing the president by direct popular vote appeals to some. To do so would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which has not been amended since 1992. There are two ways to do that: 

• Congress could propose an amendment by a two-thirds vote of both chambers. The amendment then must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states. All existing amendments to the Constitution were made in this manner. 
• The legislatures of two-thirds of the states could petition Congress to convene a constitutional convention at which any part of the Constitution could be amended and any proposed amendment would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. This method has never been invoked.

Faithless Electors

No federal law or constitutional provision requires electors to vote for the party that nominated them, and over the years some electors have voted against the instructions of the voters. Generally, though, electors are selected by the political party for their party loyalty, and many are party leaders who are unlikely to vote for anyone other than their party’s candidate. 

In 2016, there were seven faithless electors, the most since 1972—three Democratic electors from Washington state cast their votes for Republican Colin Powell, instead of Democrat Hillary Clinton; one Democratic elector from Washington state cast his vote for Faith Spotted Eagle, a member of the Yankton Sioux Nation; one Democratic elector from Hawaii cast his vote for Bernie Sanders, instead of Clinton; one Republican elector from Texas cast his vote for John Kasich, instead of Donald Trump; and one Republican elector from Texas cast his vote for Ron Paul, a libertarian. The last time an elector crossed party lines was in 1972, when an elector nominated by the Republican Party cast his ballot for the Libertarian ticket. There were no faithless electors in the 2020 election. 
 
Some states have laws that require their electors to vote as pledged. These laws may either impose a fine on an elector who fails to vote according to the statewide or district popular vote or may disqualify an elector who violates the pledge and provide a replacement elector. In July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “faithless elector” laws are constitutional in Chiafalo v. Washington and Colorado Department of State v. Baca. The table below lists the states with laws that bind the votes of presidential electors.

Most of the laws require electors to vote for the candidate of the party that nominated the elector or require the elector to sign a pledge to do so. Some go further. Oklahoma imposes a civil penalty of $1,000; in North Carolina, the fine is $500, and the faithless elector is deemed to have resigned and a replacement is appointed. In South Carolina, an elector who violates the pledge is subject to criminal penalties, and in New Mexico a violation is a fourth-degree felony. In Michigan, a candidate who fails to vote as required is considered to have resigned and a replacement is appointed. 

Most of the laws cited above require electors to vote for the candidate of the party that nominated the elector, or require the elector to sign a pledge to do so. Some go further: Oklahoma imposes a civil penalty of $1,000; in North Carolina, the fine is $500, the faithless elector is deemed to have resigned, and a replacement is appointed. In South Carolina, an elector who violates his or her pledge is subject to criminal penalties, and in New Mexico a violation is a fourth degree felony. In Michigan, a candidate who fails to vote as required is considered to have resigned, and a replacement is appointed.