Understanding the Electoral College: Process and Significance

Remembering all the complex details of how the electoral college works is not exactly easy. And just when you’ve mastered how it all adds up, you probably won’t need to think about it again for another four years — hardly a formula for cementing something in your brain. “Try This”  host Cristina Quinn is here to help.

The first class in our three-part series on the electoral college explains how the system works, the complicated way electoral votes are assigned and awarded, and what happens between Election Day and Inauguration Day. Washington Post politics reporters Aaron Blake and Amy Gardner join Cristina to make the whole thing so accessible that your high school civics teacher would be proud.

Here are some resources if you’d like to dive deeper into the electoral college:

• An explainer on how the electoral college votes
• How the electoral college works, in visuals 
• How fair is the electoral college?
• Mapping paths to victory in 2024 

Subscribe to The Washington Post or connect your subscription in Apple Podcasts.