Guardian US polling expert Harry J. Enten breaks down the
workings of the Electoral College – a mysterious institution
that uses the people's votes to select the US president. With
538 electors up for grabs across 50 states and the District of
Columbia, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are vying for the 270
votes that will grant them the White House. It's a curious
system where things can and have gone awry – one possible
outcome in 2012 is for Romney to end up in the Oval Office with
Joe Biden as his vice-president. How could that happen? Let
Harry explain. The US Electoral College Explained: Why We Don't
Vote Directly for a PresidentWednesday, 10 October 2012 09:56 By
Harry J. Enten, The Guardian | Video Report Harry J Enten blogs
about political and electoral statistics at Margin of Error. A
graduate in government from Dartmouth College, he has interned
at the NBC political unit in Washington, DC and Pollster.com, as
well as contributed to Taegan Goddard's Political Wire. Follow
Harry on Twitter @ForecasterEnt