Who elects the President of the United States?

• A. Congress
• B. Electoral College
• C. The People Directly
• D. The Senate

Answer: (B)

The President is chosen through the Electoral College. Voters don’t vote directly for the President; they vote for electors pledged to a candidate. Each state’s number of electors equals its representation in Congress (Senators plus Representatives), and those electors meet to cast the official votes for President. A candidate needs a majority of electoral votes (270) to win. In practice, most states award all their electoral votes to the winning candidate in that state, with Maine and Nebraska using a district method. If no candidate reaches a majority, the House of Representatives selects the President from the top three candidates, while the Senate would choose the Vice President. That’s why the Electoral College is the mechanism that elects the President, not Congress, not the people directly, and not the Senate.