How does the electoral college work?

The electoral college works by giving each state a certain number of electors, based on their population. In Arkansas, for example, the state has six electoral votes. Each of these votes is assigned to one of the state’s congressional districts. The popular vote determines the winner of each congressional district, and thus who the electoral vote from that congressional district goes to. At the end of the general election, the winner in each congressional district is awarded one electoral vote. The total number of electoral votes in a state is equal to its total number of representatives in Congress – two Senators and its number of Representatives in the House of Representatives. The winning candidate in Arkansas must therefore win four of the six congressional districts in order to win the overall electoral vote. Once the winning candidate in a state has been determined, the electoral votes from that state are then sent to the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. In order to win the election, a candidate must receive a simple majority of electoral votes – at least 270 out of the total 538. The candidate who gets the most electoral votes is then declared the winner of the election.

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How does the electoral college work?

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