Valitsijamiehiä

Valitsijamiehiä, also known as electors, are a group of individuals who are chosen to cast votes for the President and Vice President of the United States. The Electoral College system, established by the Constitution, is the mechanism by which the President and Vice President are selected. The number of electors each state has is equal to its total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress. This means larger states have more electors than smaller states.

Electors are typically chosen by political parties at their state conventions. Once chosen, electors pledge to vote for a specific candidate. However, they are not legally bound to follow this pledge. The District of Columbia has three electors, but they are chosen by the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, a agreement among states to award their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner.

The Electoral College meets in their respective states on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes. The votes are then sent to Congress, where they are opened and counted in a joint session. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes (currently 270 out of 538) becomes President, and the candidate with the second-highest number of votes becomes Vice President. If no candidate receives an absolute majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President from the top three candidates, with each state delegation having one vote. The Senate chooses the Vice President from the top two candidates.