Presidential electors do not actually meet to cast their ballots
until the Monday after the second Wednesday of December, which
this year is December 17. Each state’s electors meet in that
state’s capital. An elector casts a ballot for the president and
separately for the vice president. The votes are not counted at
that time. Instead, the electoral votes are not counted for two
months, until January 6 following the presidential election.
Congress convenes in a joint session to count the electoral
votes. To win, a candidate for president must receive 270
electoral votes. If no candidate gets a majority of the
Electoral College, there is no runoff. Instead, under the
Constitution, the United States House of Representatives must
then meet to elect the president from among the top three vote-
getters. Instead of each representative getting one vote, each
state gets one vote. The representatives from that state decide
by majority rule how its single vote will be cast. The United
States House of Representatives has