Who is represented by the electoral college?

Answer 1

The political parties in each state choose slates of potential Electors sometime before the general election. On Election Day, the voters in each state select their state's Electors by casting their ballots for President. The electoral college Electors in most states are selected by state party conventions or by the state party's central committee. In a few states the Electors are selected by primary election or by the party's presidential nominee. Political parties often choose Electors that are state elected officials, state party leaders, or people in the state who have a personal or political affiliation with their party's Presidential candidate.

In most states, the names of individual Electors do not appear anywhere on the ballot; instead only those of the various candidates for President and Vice President appear, usually prefaced by the words "Electors for." The Electors are expected to vote for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the party that nominated them.

Since the election of 1824, most states have appointed their electors on a winner-take-all basis, based on the statewide popular vote on Election Day. Maine and Nebraska are the only two current exceptions, as both states use the congressional district method. In a winner-take-all state, all of the state's Electoral votes go to whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate). Maine and Nebraska use the "congressional district method", selecting one elector within each congressional district by popular vote and awarding two electors by a statewide popular vote.