US Election Information

Maintained by the U.S. National Archives. Electoral votes, not popular votes, elect the U.S. President. We got the idea from the Roman Catholic Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor. Includes all Electoral College vote results from 1789 to date, laws and procedures governing the Electoral College, and links to related sites. Great place for playing "what if...?" games about the Presidency.

Established in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College is the formal body which elects the President and Vice President of the United States. Each state has as many "electors" in the Electoral College as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress, and the District of Columbia has three electors. When voters go to the polls in a Presidential election, they actually are voting for the slate of electors vowing to cast their ballots for that ticket in the Electoral College.

From the Congressional Research Service.