electoral college

/ɛlɛkˈtoʊral ˈkɑlɪdʒ/

/ɛlɛkˈtʌʊral ˈkɒlɪdʒ/

Other forms: electoral colleges

Don’t bother sending in an application; the Electoral College isn’t a regular college. It’s a process that the founding fathers came up as a compromise between election of the President by Congress and election by popular vote.

When you vote for President, your vote counts as part of the popular vote. But to become president, the candidate also has to win the majority of the Electoral College votes. In 2000, although Al Gore won the popular vote, George W. Bush became president because he was awarded the majority of Electoral College votes. Every state has a different number of electors in the Electoral College, which is determined by the population of the state.

Definitions of electoral college

1. noun

   the body of electors who formally elect the United States president and vice president
   type of:

   body

   a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity