How Does the Electoral College Work

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is charged with writing concise background reports to keep Congress informed about issues under consideration. As such, they are also great tools for the public. On April 13, 2016 CRS published a 17 page report about how the Electoral College works by Thomas H. Neale, Specialist in American National Government. The report covers the origin of the system and how it works today. For more information see The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections.

Vacancies in Major-Party Candidacies and the Position of President-Elect

On Oct. 6, 2016 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a brief report addressing what would happen if a candidate for President or Vice President were to die or leave the ticket before the Nov. 8th election or between the election and the Electoral College Meeting or between the Electoral College Meeting and the Inauguration. Read about the different procedures for each of those scenarios in Thomas H. Neale's Presidential Elections: Vacancies in Major-Party Candidacies and the Position of President-Elect.

How Can the Results of a Presidential Election Be Contested?

On August 26, 2016 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a report entitled "How Can the Results of a Presidential Election be Contested?"  The brief report reveals that challenges to the vote for presidential electors are initially handled in the states since states are the initial and principal authority for the administration of elections within their jurisdictions. The document also reveals how objections can be made when Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes. For further information, it also recommends CRS Report RL32717 ("Counting Electoral Votes: An Overview of Procedures at the Joint Session, Including Objections by Members of Congress") and CRS Report RL32611 ("The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections").

Electoral College

After Tuesday's election the Electoral College takes over. Do you know who is responsible for administering the Electoral College? Is it:

• a. Congress
• b. the states
• c. Office of the Federal Register?

Actually, 1985 legislation designated the Archivist of the United States (from the National Archives and Records Administration [NARA]) as administrator of the Electoral College on behalf of Congress and the states. The Archivist in turn gave the responsibility to its Office of the Federal Register. After the election of 2000 Michael White, then chief counsel of the Federal Register, was dubbed the "Dean of the Electoral College." White has posted an enlightening discussion explaining the role of NARA's Office of the Federal Register in the Electoral College process. For additional information about the Electoral College, visit NARA's U.S. Electoral College pages:

• Frequently Asked Questions about the Electoral College
  
• How Electors Vote
  
• Instructions for State Officials
  
• 2008 Presidential Election with links for an interactive electoral map
  
• Electoral College Calculator
  
• Historical Election Results