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While millions of Americans will cast ballots for president in November, their votes do not directly send one of the candidates to the White House. That the selection of the president is actually done by a group called the "Electoral College." Americans vote for their next president on November 6. But the real presidential election takes place on December 17, and only 538 people are involved. This small group is called the Electoral College. When the US Constitution was forged in 1787, no European nation had its citizens directly elect their Head of State. Therefore, the Constitution’s writers devised a two-step system by which people would cast ballots, but their votes would be conveyed to a small group, the Electoral College, which meeting state-by-state about a month after the popular vote, actually selects the president. "Those Electors are, in number, the Congressional delegation in each state -- two for the Senate, and however many Representatives," says American University Professor Curtis Gans. "And, they are elected by a winner-take-all in the states." The only exception is for two states, Nebraska and Maine, which assign Electors proportionately according to the popular vote in each Congressional district. There are also three additional Electors representing non-state entities such as the District of Columbia, for a total of 538. A simple majority of 270 produces a president. However, if no presidential candidate comes up with that, the Constitution provides for the House of Representatives to select the next president, though that has not happened in more than 200 years. | 
