Every four years, Americans who are 18 or
older have a big responsibility.
Our votes decide who becomes the president
of the United States.
Unfortunately the US election system isn't
that simple.
It's easy to imagine every US citizen's vote
being counted together on election day.
But this is not the case.
US elections are not decided by the total
or popular vote, but individual states.
Let me explain.
It starts with your vote.
On election day you’ll vote for president
and their vice president.
You get one choice.
Then, all the votes in your state are counted.
The candidate with the most state-wide votes
becomes the candidate your state supports
for president.
This happens across the country until each
state has selected their candidate.
We end up with most of the 50 states and the
District of Columbia voting to support 1 candidate
each.
But there's a problem.
We can't elect a president by just counting
up the choices of these states - US states
are different.
Consider this: California has about 36 million
people, Kansas has less than 3 million.
We need a way for California's choice to have
more influence on the election because the
state has more people.
The question becomes - how do we make sure
each state has the right amount of influence
on the election?
Well, we need to account for the population
of each state.
As an example, Let's consider my home state
of North Carolina...
Like every state, it is divided up into congressional
districts that are based on population.
North Carolina has 13 districts, California
has 53 and Kansas has four.
When it comes to a state's influence on the
election, the number of districts matters
most.
More population = More districts = More influence.
The influence a state has in the election
is measured by the number of "electors".
This number comes from the number of districts
in a state plus the number of U.S. senators
- which is always two.
North Carolina has 15 electors, California
has 55.
When a candidate wins the voting in a state,
they win that state’s number of electors.
That's why big, populous states can be so
important to candidates – their electors
add up quickly.
And the number of electors is what really
matters.
Here’s why…
If you add up the electors of all 50 states
and the District of Columbia, there are 538
in total.
The goal on election day is to win the majority
of 538 – or 270 electors.
Once a candidate wins enough states to reach
the 270 majority, they have won the election
and become the president elect.
So, let's recap - Your vote helps your state
choose a single candidate.
That candidate receives all the electors from
your state.
The candidate who can win enough states to
reach 270 total electors wins the national
election and becomes the president elect.
Then, on the following January 20th, the president
elect is sworn in as the next president of
the United States.
Yay!
It all starts with your vote.
Make it count.
