The US Electoral College vote: What you need to know

What does the US Electoral College vote mean for the election result, and is there any chance at all Donald Trump won't be declared president?

Despite calls after the 2016 Election for the Electoral College to choose a different candidate, it very rarely happens. Source: EPA

Just when you thought the US Presidential election was over, here comes the Electoral College vote.

Widely considered little more than a formality, the meetings held in every state and district a few weeks after election day will ultimately determine who will be the next leader of the US.

The representatives who vote in these meetings are called electors. The number of electors each region has is the same as its representatives and senators in Congress: a total of 538.

They range from elected officials to people with a personal connection to the candidate, with former president Bill Clinton being one of the electors for New York.

Associate Professor in American politics Brendon O’Connor says the unique idea came around in case who the public chose wasn’t considered a suitable decision.  

“The founding fathers had this idea that maybe sometimes the people might not get it right with the popular vote at the state level, so you needed to have these electors,” he says.

“Just because you’ve won the national popular vote means nothing.”

Although Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton swept the popular vote by nearly 3 million, President-elect Donald Trump actually won more electors to clinch victory.

Power brokers

While electors aren’t obliged to vote for the same candidates as the people they are representing, not doing so is highly unusual.

According to Professor O’Connor says there are repercussions for being a so-called “faithless elector”, depending on what state you’re from.

“In 29 states and the district of Columbia there are laws saying those electors must follow the statewide vote.”

“However they don’t have massive consequences and possibly the laws would be unconstitutional if tested at the federal level,” he says.

At the meetings, electors will cast their votes for who they want to see as president and vice president, potentially changing the course of history.

Outgoing Vice President Joe Biden will oversee the tally, and declare the winner.

But the University of Sydney’s Professor O’Connor thinks it’s unlikely we’ll see a major shift.

“Even if there was some avalanche of people [not voting for Trump] the election then would be thrown to the House of Representatives, where the Republicans have the majority, and they would be able to vote Trump in as president anyway.”

Time for change?

There has been growing criticism of the Electoral College vote, with even current President Barack Obama describing it as a “vestige”.

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have also called for an overhaul of the system, though Mr Trump has since changed his mind on the subject.

Brendon O’Connor from the US Studies Centre also feels it’s time for a change, saying the current setup skews the campaign focus towards “battleground” states.

“There are very good reasons to look at reform but the Americans are very reluctant to change this system of government even when it seems to be failing and under pressure, because of the sense that the Constitution is almost a holy document,” he says.

“I don’t think it’s a particularly democratic system”.