As we prepare for the 2024 Presidential Elections, I want to attempt to explain or simplify the very complex process known as the Electoral College that is used to select our U.S. President and Vice President.
The election of the president of the United States is a two-step process:
There are a total of 538 electoral votes. These are divided among the states based on each state’s proportional size — the bigger the state’s population the more “votes” it gets. Each state gets 2 votes for its two US Senators, and 1 vote for each member it has in the House of Representatives. In California, we have 2 U.S. Senators and 52 members of the House of Representatives. This means whichever candidate in California that gets the most statewide votes will receive 54 electoral votes.
Of the 538 electoral votes, an absolute majority of 270 or more is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves an absolute majority, a contingent election is held by the House of Representatives to elect the president and by the Senate to elect the vice president.
*In Maine and Nebraska, 1 electoral vote goes per the plurality of the popular votes of each congressional district (for the U.S. House of Representatives); and 2 electoral votes go to the statewide popular vote. In all other states, the total state electoral votes goes to the candidate that gets the most statewide votes.
This process can be complicated. While this process varies by state, generally, the parties either nominate slates of potential electors at their State Party conventions or they chose them by a vote of the party’s Central Committee. This happens in each State for each party by whatever rules the State party (and sometimes the national party) have for the process. (https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college)
For a more detailed information, here is a link: About the Electors provided by the National Archives.
On July 6, 2020, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled, “A State may enforce an elector’s pledge to support his party’s nominee—and the state voters’ choice—for President. … Electors are not free agents; they are to vote for the candidate whom the State’s voters have chosen.”
However, there is no federal law that requires electors to vote as they have pledged, but 29 states and the District of Columbia have legal control over how their electors vote in the Electoral College. This means their electors are bound by state law and/or by state or party pledge to cast their vote for the candidate that wins the statewide popular vote. California is included in the 29 states with this requirement, per EC § 6906. This means that 21 states have no requirements for their electors. Electors that do not vote for whom they pledged to vote for are known as “faithless electors”.
California Secretary of State – Electoral College Information
https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/electoral-college
US House of Representatives – Electoral College Fast Facts
https://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/
National Archives
The Electoral College
More About Electoral College
Electoral College History
About the Electors
How are my electors appointed?
State Allocations of all 538 Electoral Votes
Roles and Responsibilities in the Electoral College Process
Party-nominated offices are contests in which the nominee is selected by the political party.
Party‐Nominated Contests:
During a Presidential Primary Election, only registered voters in that political party can vote for that party’s candidate on the ballot. This is known as a Closed Presidential Primary.
The exception to that rule: When candidates for the President are on the Primary Election Ballot, some–but not all–political parties choose to allow No Party Preference (NPP) voters to participate in their primary without having to re-register. This is known as a “crossover” or a Modified-Closed Presidential Primary. If you are not registered with one of the certified political parties, the state election laws consider you to be a NPP voter and you will be given the option to crossover.
Certified political parties in California:
If a qualified political party chooses to hold a Modified-Closed Presidential Primary, the party must notify the California Secretary of State no later than the 135th day before Election Day. Counties will then notify voters as to which parties allow crossovers as the presidential primary election draws near.
If you are a NPP voter, you have 3 choices for how to participate in the primary:
No matter how you decide to participate in the presidential primary, everyone will be able to vote for President and Vice-President in the November General Election.
Voter‐Nominated offices are contests in which the nominee is selected by the voter. In voter‐nominated contests, any voter can vote for any candidate, regardless of party. It also allows candidates to choose whether they want to disclose their party preference on the ballot.
Voter-nominated contests affected by Top-Two rule:
On June 8, 2010, California voters passed Proposition 14, which created the “Top-Two Open Primary Act.” As such, all Voter-Nominated office candidates appear on all ballots. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their party affiliations, advance to the General Election. Consequently, it is possible for two candidates belonging to the same political party to win in a top-two primary and face off in the general election.
Top-Two does not affect the election of President and County Central Committees, which are Party-Nominated contests. President and County Central Committees only appear on ballots of voters who are registered as the Party of their affiliations. See section on Party-Nominated contests for more information.
A Non‐Partisan contest is an office in which no political party nominates a candidate. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Superior Court Judges, County Offices, Municipal Offices, Schools, and Special Districts are examples of non‐partisan offices.
Primary Election Non‐Partisan contests:
General Election only Non‐Partisan contests:
(These offices are not included in the Primary Election.)
For Non‐Partisan contests that are included in the Primary Election:
If a candidate receives simple majority of votes win outright in the Primary. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then the top‐two vote‐getters move on to the General Election for a run-off.
For Non‐Partisan contests that are only included in the General Election:
The Candidate that receives the highest number of votes wins outright in the General Election. There is no run-off election for these candidates.
You may write in a qualified write‐in candidate’s name on the ballot in a Primary Election contest. If a voter writes in a name of a non-qualified candidate, it will be treated like a “no-vote” for that selection. A list of qualified write‐in candidates will be provided here once available from the California Secretary of State’s office.
In the General Election, you may only write‐in a qualified candidate’s name in a Party‐Nominated contest. Write-in candidates for Voter-Nominated offices can only run in the Primary Election. However, a write-in candidate in the Primary Election can move on to the General Election if the candidate is one of the top two vote-getters in the Primary Election.
