American Government / Unit 5 Gov 215 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Electoral College
Captions available
The idea
The Electoral College elects the president: each state holds electors equal to its seats in Congress, and a majority of electoral votes wins.
In practice
The House is fixed at 435; with 100 senators and three DC electors, the college totals 538 — majority, 270.
Where people slip
Elector counts shift with each census reapportionment.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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