US elections: the electoral college

As I write this it is 4 days and 17 hours until polling opens. This is just enough time for readers new to American Politics to get their head round the way US voters elect their President.

Wondered by so much attention is devoted to capturing so called swing states? The answer is that the President is not selected by the popular vote. Instead America uses what can best be described as a glorified first past the post system which selects the President indirectly on the basis of electoral college votes.

CNN provides a simple student sheet overview here.

The same site has produced an electoral college map that allows users to play around with.

And there’s also a short video clip here.