Electoral College Votes Today

The Electoral College will gather throughout the day in their respective states to cast their official ballots for president. Most states will offer live streams to watch the proceedings, which will take place at locations chosen by state legislatures – typically the state’s capitol. Exceptions include Delaware – whose electors will meet in a gym, and Nevada – which will be the only state to hold its meeting virtually this year.

Electors will use paper ballots to cast their votes for president and vice president. And while 33 states require their electors to choose whoever won the state’s popular vote, 17 other states don’t “bind” their electors – who can vote for whomever they choose. If they cast a vote for another candidate than the one which won the state, they are considered ‘faithless electors.’

The following 33 states and D.C. have laws that bind electors to vote according to their pledge: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The deadline for the President of the Senate to receive the ballots is December 23. The ballots are then counted by Congress in a joint session on January 6, 2021. The joint session will meet at 1 p.m. and the Vice President will open the certificates. When the votes are counted, the tellers transmit them back to the Vice President, who then announces which person received the majority of 270 votes or more.

Once the result is read, members of Congress will have one opportunity to lodge complaints, which must be made in writing and signed by at least one Senator and one member of the House. The objection would then be debated by each chamber separately, with each member of Congress allowed five minutes to speak. The debate has a hard stop after two hours, after which each body will vote on whether to reject the state’s results. The session cannot end until the count is complete and publicly declared, at which point the election is officially decided.