What is the role of the Electoral College?

The role of the Electoral College is to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. It is a body of electors who are selected by their respective state legislatures. Each state’s number of electors is based on its population size. In California, there are 55 electors for the 2020 presidential election. The Electoral College works through a winner-takes-all system, meaning that the candidate who wins a state’s popular vote receives all of that state’s electoral votes. This means that California’s 55 electors will cast their votes for whichever candidate received the most votes in the state. The founding fathers created the Electoral College to protect the rights of small states who feared that their interests would not be represented in a direct popular election. The Electoral College also serves to prevent a president from being elected by only a very select portion of the population. By overriding the popular vote, the Electoral College can elect the most qualified candidate as determined by the majority of the states. The Electoral College is a fundamental part of the United States election system. It serves to ensure that all the states are represented in the presidential election and that the most qualified candidate is chosen by the majority of the population.

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