who is officially elected through the electoral college
United States presidential election The election of President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the 50 U.S. states or Washington, D.C. cast ballots for members of the U.S. Electoral College, known as electors. These electors then in turn cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for President and Vice President. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes for President or Vice President (currently, at least 270 out of a total of 538) is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority for President, the House of Representatives chooses the President; if no one receives a majority for Vice President, then the Senate chooses the Vice President.
Article Two of the United States Constitution Congress sets a national Election Day. Currently, Electors are chosen on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November (the first Tuesday after November 1), in the year before the President's term is to expire. The Electors cast their votes on the Monday following the second Wednesday in December (the first Monday after December 12) of that year. Thereafter, the votes are opened and counted by the Vice President, as President of the Senate, in a joint session of Congress.
President-elect of the United States No constitutional provision or federal law requires electors to vote according to the results of their state's popular vote, though some states bind their electors to their pledges by state law. Historically, there have been only a few instances of "faithless electors" casting their ballots for a candidate to whom they were not pledged, and such instances have never resulted in changing the final outcome of a presidential election. The popular vote does not declare the presidency but the Electoral College vote does. Even if the popular vote goes to one candidate, another may win the electoral vote and the presidency, as has happened in 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016.
Electoral College (United States) Candidates for elector are nominated by state chapters of nationally oriented political parties in the months prior to Election Day. In some states, the electors are nominated by voters in primaries, the same way other presidential candidates are nominated. In some states, such as Oklahoma, Virginia and North Carolina, electors are nominated in party conventions. In Pennsylvania, the campaign committee of each candidate names their respective electoral college candidates (an attempt to discourage faithless electors). Varying by state, electors may also be elected by state legislatures, or appointed by the parties themselves.[48]