i. The Vote Delusion

At the inflection of the ‘No Kings’ rallies, and the memory of ‘January 6’,  a humble question arises: how do Americans choose their President?

Most voters believe they cast ballots and elect the President on the 5th of November. They think that there is a direct relationship between people and power – democracy. This is far from the truth. 

Broadly, I’ve come to see that American voters fall into three camps:

• The Popular Voter:

“I vote for a candidate, and if they get the most votes they should be the winner”

• The State Voter:

“I vote for a candidate, if they win enough states, they should be the winner”

• The Informed Voter:

“I vote to pick electors, electors vote according to the poll, they pick the winner”

The truth is, all three voters aren't reflecting on electing the President, only the beliefs of the American people.

ii. How a U.S. President Is Really Chosen

So, let's answer the question. These are the six steps in which the President of the United States is chosen from the perspective of a voter:

1.      You vote in a state-level poll

Your state, not the federal government, determines whether you can be polled. This poll isn’t a right under the Constitution — it’s a state-administered privilege.¹

So, a state decides who it wants to poll:

• Age: You must be at least 18 by 'Election Day', but states set their own rules around pre-registration and deadlines. Some allow 16 or 17-year-olds to register in advance; some don’t.

• Felony status: Some states revoke voting rights for any felony conviction. Others allow you to be polled while still in prison or they restore your rights after parole.

• Citizenship: You must be a U.S. citizen, but how that’s verified varies. Some states require documentation; others don’t. Each maintains their own voter rolls with different levels of scrutiny.

• Residency: What counts as ‘living in a state’ depends entirely on the state. Are you a student from out of town? Homeless? A recent mover? Whether you count as a state resident is up to local law.

Then your state decides how it wants to poll:

• Polling method: In-person only? Early polling? Universal mail-in ballots? Drop boxes? Signature matching? Ballot curing? It’s all determined by the state legislature.

• Ballot boxes: Local, often partisan, officials decide how voter rolls are managed and how ballot boxes are distributed, secured, and counted.

• Ballot papers: Those same officials set the rules for ballot design, including which candidates appear (e.g. third-party or write-in rules) and the layout or order of names on the paper.

So, by the time you’ve reached the ballot box, the state has already decided who really gets to be polled. While the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th Amendments ban discriminatory restrictions, they do not grant a constitutional right to vote.

Anyway, constitutionally the state doesn’t need to poll you  —  but it’s nice they asked.

2.      Your electors are Determined

Electors are individuals usually selected at party conventions or by internal party committees. They are loyalists: party officials, donors, activists, or symbolic picks like local leaders. Voters never see their names on the ballot. Electors must be eligible voters in their state and cannot be federal officeholders (Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution). These individuals are submitted to the state governor for state certification.

But who gets to submit them?

• The state legislature determines who has standing to submit electors. This is usually limited to recognized political parties or candidates who qualify under the state’s political petitioning process.

• Recognised parties or candidates file ‘electoral slates’ —  lists of suggested electors to be used if their candidate wins. This includes write-in campaigns, which must also pre-file slates for their votes to count. So if you vote for someone not formally recognised by the state — they don’t count.

•  Once a state’s election result is finalised, the governor certifies one of these slates as the official electors for that state. This certified list is then sent to Congress.

Today, this process is conventionally based on the result of the state-run presidential poll — what most people believe is the U.S. Presidential Election.

3.      The State Government Decides

State legislatures also determine how these electors, who are probably not you, should vote. The number of electors is based on a once-a-decade population survey, which gradually drifts into error due to interstate migration.⁴ Try not to move too much, or you'll fudge the maths!

States also decide how electors vote. Most use a winner-takes-all system: whoever gets more votes in the poll, gets all the electors. Other states use district-based or proportional determiners. These rules aren’t set directly by voters or the Constitution — they’re state legislation, often passed by whichever party happens to be in power.

And even then, Electors aren’t constitutionally bound. Some states have laws requiring electors to vote as pledged, others don’t.

• In 2016, seven electors cast so-called faithless votes, defying their state’s legislated expectations.

• Some states now have laws that allow such electors to be replaced, but only before certification — and enforcement varies widely.

• The Supreme Court ruled in Chiafalo v. Washington (2020) that states can penalise or replace faithless electors — but they don’t have to.² 

What happens after the vote?

• Once electors vote, the results are certified by the governor and sent to Congress.

• There’s no federal mechanism for undoing or replacing faithless votes after they are state certified.

• If a governor certifies its electors by the federal Safe Harbor Deadline (six days before electors vote), Congress is supposed to accept them.³  Miss that deadline?  That protection is gone (see Bush v. Gore).⁵

And some states plan to skip all this entirely: The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) would pledge electors to the national popular vote winner — but only if enough states join to hit 270.⁶ 

So, your candidate scored under 50%? Have a Faithless elector? Sometimes your vote on the poll counts. Sometimes it doesn’t. Just pray that you live in Maine, and not Minnesota.⁷ 

4.      Electors Cast their Votes 

In December, by federal law, the electors meet in their respective state capitals to cast their official votes — one for President, one for Vice President. This meeting takes place on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December. While technically they are pledged to a candidate, electors don’t independently discuss or decide. Their votes are public, and the act is largely procedural, being bound by state legislation, not personal judgment.

Once their votes are cast, the electors must sign six ‘Certificates of Vote’ — for redundancy — of which, one is sent to the Vice President to be opened and counted in a session of Congress

5.      Congress Certifies the Result

In January, a joint session of Congress, presided over by the Vice President, counts the electoral votes. Members of Congress can object to any state's result. If both the House and the Senate agree, those votes can be discarded. 

In contested races, the Vice President’s role, essentially as a glorified letter opener, has become a recent flashpoint for political pressure.

6.      Congress then Decides

If no candidate receives at least 270 congressionally certified electoral votes, Congress decides the outcome. If Congress agrees on a winner, the election is over!

If not, the process splits:

• The House of Representatives selects the President. Each state delegation gets one vote, regardless of population size.

• The Senate selects the Vice President, with each Senator casting one vote.

This is rare, but it does happen — most notably in 1825, when the House elected John Quincy Adams, despite Andrew Jackson winning more electoral and popular votes.⁸    

iii. The American Demos v. Kratos

Democracy means power of the people, by the people — demos (people) and kratos (power) in Greek. But in America’s system, the people and power are more distant than direct. The presidential election is less a popular vote than a legal ritual — filtered through layers of discretion, certification, and institutional control. While many believe the President is chosen through a direct democratic process, that belief is mistaken. Americans don’t vote for the President.

The electors don’t truly decide either — they make suggestions under state-imposed conditions.

It is by correlation, not causation, that the College, Congress, certified votes, and public opinion align. It is tradition, not obligation, that keeps the electors pledged. The system’s consistency masks its fragility. It feels democratic, until it isn’t. And when it isn’t, that’s not a failure. That’s the system working as designed.

Americans, welcome to your republic.

iv. Suggestions for an American Democracy?

Bringing the system closer to belief doesn’t require another revolution. Even within the existing framework, there are modest reforms that could make a substantive difference.

• Make the Electoral College proportional — even if only at the state level, so voters are more pluralistically represented.

• Introduce a single transferable vote (STV) option, so those who support minor or third-party candidates still have a voice.

• Plug the legal holes — clarify elector obligations (or appoint them independently), standardise certification timelines, and provide positive federal guarantees for voting rights and access.

These changes wouldn’t make the U.S. a democratic paradise — but they might restore belief in the American republic. A belief eroded not by deceit, but by misunderstanding.

It is in that hope I write: so that you, the people of the United States, may strive for a more perfect Union.

1. Voting Is Not a Constitutional Right – The U.S. Constitution does not grant a positive right to vote; it only prohibits certain forms of discrimination if a vote is conducted (e.g. race, sex, age over 18, poll taxes). U.S. Const. Amends. XV, XIX, XXIV, XXVI.

2. Chiafalo v. Washington – A 2020 Supreme Court case that upheld state laws allowing penalties or replacement of “faithless” electors. Chiafalo v. Washington, 591 U.S. 578 (2020).

3. Safe Harbor Deadline – A federal deadline (six days before the Electoral College vote) by which states must certify their electors to gain congressional deference under the Electoral Count Act. 3 U.S.C. § 5.

4. The Number of Electors – Determined by the total number of U.S. Senators (2 per state) and Representatives (based on decennial census), adjusted every 10 years. U.S. Const. Art. I, § 2; Art. II, § 1.

5. Bush v. Gore – The 2000 Supreme Court case that effectively ended Florida’s recount, affirming the certified electors under Safe Harbor protections. Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)

6. National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) – An agreement between states to award their electors to the national popular vote winner, triggered only once 270 electoral votes’ worth of states join. 

7. Maine and Nebraska allocate electors by congressional district, unlike most states which use a winner-takes-all system. Minnesota uses the latter.

8. 1825 Election and John Quincy Adams – The only election decided by the House of Representatives under the 12th Amendment; Adams won despite Jackson having more electoral and popular votes. U.S. Const. Amend. XII.