[CHEERFUL MUSIC]
[MARKER DRAWING]
SPEAKER: On Election Day,
millions of Americans
will head to the polls
to cast their votes.
The presidential election, which
takes place every four years,
is the most prominent
of these elections.
However, did you
know that when you
push the button for
candidate A or candidate B
you aren't actually
voting for the president?
The group who chooses the
President of the United States
is the Electoral College.
It's made up of representatives
from every state
called "electors."
The number of electors
from each state
is calculated by adding
up that state's number
of representatives in Congress.
So, for example, North
Carolina has 15 electors--
13 from the House of
Representatives and two
from the Senate.
This is who you're
actually voting
for-- your state's electors.
Each party's
candidate has a slate
of electors ready to
go on Election Day.
When the polls have closed and
we know who has won each state,
that candidate's electors
cast their ballots
in the Electoral College--
and then we have our president.
It takes 270 Electoral
College votes to win.
Some people say that
the Electoral College
is undemocratic
because of the chance
that the Electoral College
winner isn't the same
as the popular vote winner.
However, the Electoral College
ensures that all 50 states--
even the small ones--
gets a say in who
becomes our president.
[CHEERFUL MUSIC]
