Explain the functions of the electoral college in U.S. presidential elections

What will be an ideal response?

Answers will vary. When citizens vote for president and vice president, they are not voting directly for the candidates. Instead, they are voting for electors who will cast their ballots in the electoral college. The electors are selected during each presidential election year by the states' political parties, subject to the laws of the state. Each state has as many electoral votes as it has U.S. senators and representatives. In addition, there are three electors from the District of Columbia, even though it is not a state. The electoral college system is primarily a winner-take-all system, in which the candidate who receives the largest popular vote in a state is credited with all that state's electoral votes. The only exceptions are Maine and Nebraska. In December, after the general election, electors (either Republicans or Democrats, depending on which candidate has won the state's popular vote) meet in their state capitals to cast their votes for president and vice president. When the Constitution was drafted, the framers intended that the electors would use their own discretion in deciding who would make the best president. Beginning as early as 1796, however, electors have usually voted for the candidates to whom they are pledged. The electoral college ballots are then sent to the U.S. Senate, which counts and certifies them before a joint session of Congress held in early January. The candidates who receive a majority of the electoral votes are officially declared president and vice president.