270 electoral votes are needed to win; 300 is 30 more than the minimum.
Any electoral college elector has the right to officaly support their political party's presidential nominee/candidate.
Then the U. S. Senate elects the Vice President from between the two candidates with the most electoral votes, as they did in the election of 1836.
No presidential candidate received more than 50% (a majority) of the electoral votes in 1824. In the 1824 presidential election an individual needed to receive at least 131 electoral votes out of the 261 total electoral votes. Andrew Jackson received 99 electoral votes, John Quincy Adams received 84 electoral votes, William Crawford received 41 electoral votes, and Henry Clay received 37 electoral votes. The popular vote totals were Andrew Jackson 151,271 (42.9%), John Quincy Adams 113,122 (32.1%), Henry Clay 47,531 (13.5%), and William Crawford 40,856 (11.6%). Since no candidate received the required majority of 131 electoral votes, the president was elected by the U.S. House of Representatives in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment of the United States Constitution. John Quincy Adams won the election in the U.S. House of Representatives.
As of 2016 the winning candidate has to receive 270 of electoral votes to become President.This number is one more than 1/2 of the total of 538votes and so is the majority of the votes.270 electoral votes are required. There are 538 members of the electoral college and you need a majority to win outright. There are scenarios for a 269-269 split and how to break the tie.
If no candidate in a presidential election has the majority of electoral votes than the members of the house of representatives vote to choose which one of them will be the next president. This is in Article II Section I of the Constitution.
if nobody received a majority of the electoral vote, the House of Representatives chooses the president from the three with the greatest number of electoral votes in a special election in which each state's representatives cast one vote for their state.
The winning candidate has to have a simple majority of votes from the electoral college. In other words, the candidate will only need to win by ONE electoral vote to become the president. He must receive a simple majority of the 535 votes in the electoral college.
The popular vote drives the electoral college's vote. In the US, 270 electoral votes are required for a presidential win. See link:
There isn't one. In fairly recent elections that there has come to be an expectation that presidential candidates will do this, but it's not legally required.
The popular vote drives the electoral college's vote. In the US, 270 electoral votes are required for a presidential win. See link:
In the 1840 US Presidential election, a total of 148electoral votes were required to secure election as President. The victor, Whig candidate William Harrison, was elected with 234 - a majority of 174 and 86 more than was required to win.
In a strong sense, yes, the elector is required to do his duty if not by law by his own sense of honor and integrity and moral suasion. In some states the elector can be punished for violating his vow to support a certain candidate. However, it is extremely rare for a person who has been a long-time party member and has given years and much of his own money to a cause and a candidate to even consider voting for the opposition candidate.