Editing President of the United States (section)

=== Election ===
{{Main|United States presidential election}}
{{See also|United States Electoral College}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege2028.svg|thumb|293x293px|Map of the [[United States]] showing the number of electoral votes allocated following the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]] to each [[U.S. state|state]] and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] for the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections. 270 electoral votes are required for a majority out of 538 votes possible.]]
The president is elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] through the Electoral College, a body of electors formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president to concurrent four-year terms. As prescribed by Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the size of its total delegation in both houses of Congress. Additionally, the [[Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-third Amendment]] provides that the District of Columbia is entitled to the number it would have if it were a state, but in no case more than that of the least populous state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/twenty-third-amendment|title=Twenty-third Amendment|date=March 29, 1961|website=Annenberg Classroom|publisher=The Annenberg Public Policy Center|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|access-date=July 30, 2018}}</ref> Currently, all states and the District of Columbia select their electors based on a popular election.<ref name="CRS2017THN">{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32611.pdf|title=The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections|last=Neale|first=Thomas H.|date=May 15, 2017|website=CRS Report for Congress|publisher=Congressional Research Service|location=Washington, D.C.|page=13|access-date=July 29, 2018}}</ref> In all but two states, the party whose presidential–vice presidential [[Ticket (election)|ticket]] receives a [[Plurality (voting)|plurality]] of popular votes in the state has its entire [[Slate (elections)|slate]] of elector nominees chosen as the state's electors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html|title=About the Electors|website=U.S. Electoral College|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref> [[Maine]] and [[Nebraska]] deviate from this {{nowrap|winner-take-all}} practice, awarding two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner in each [[List of United States congressional districts|congressional district]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fairvote.org/maine_nebraska|title=Maine & Nebraska|publisher=FairVote|location=Takoma Park, Maryland|access-date=August 1, 2018|archive-date=August 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802041058/http://www.fairvote.org/maine_nebraska|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.270towin.com/content/split-electoral-votes-maine-and-nebraska/|title=Split Electoral Votes in Maine and Nebraska|website=[[270towin.com]]|access-date=August 1, 2018}}</ref>

On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, the electors convene in their respective state capitals (and in Washington, D.C.) to vote for president and, on a separate ballot, for vice president. They typically vote for the candidates of the [[Political parties in the United States|party]] that nominated them. While there is no constitutional mandate or federal law requiring them to do so, the District of Columbia and 32 states have laws requiring that their electors vote for the candidates to whom they are [[Promise|pledged]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Faithless Elector State Laws |url=https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_elector_state_laws |website=Fair Vote |access-date=March 4, 2020 |archive-date=December 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219162610/https://www.fairvote.org/faithless_elector_state_laws |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Laws Binding Electors |url=http://presidentialelectorlaws.us |access-date=March 4, 2020}}</ref> The constitutionality of these laws was upheld in ''[[Chiafalo v. Washington]]'' (2020).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Howe|first=Amy|date=July 6, 2020|title=Opinion analysis: Court upholds "faithless elector" laws|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2020/07/opinion-analysis-court-upholds-faithless-elector-laws/|access-date=July 11, 2020|website=[[SCOTUSblog]]}}</ref> Following the vote, each state then sends a certified record of their electoral votes to Congress. The votes of the electors are opened and counted during a joint session of Congress, held in the first week of January. If a candidate has received an [[Supermajority|absolute majority]] of electoral votes for president (currently 270 of 538), that person is declared the winner. Otherwise, the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] must meet to elect a president using a [[contingent election]] procedure in which representatives, voting by state delegation, with each state casting a single vote, choose between the top ''three'' electoral vote-getters for president. To win the presidency, a candidate must receive the votes of an absolute majority of states (currently 26 of 50).<ref name=CRS2017THN />

There have been two contingent presidential elections in the nation's history. A 73–73 electoral vote tie between [[Thomas Jefferson]] and fellow Democratic-Republican [[Aaron Burr]] in the [[1800 United States presidential election|election of 1800]] necessitated the first. Conducted under the original procedure established by [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause_3:_Electoral_College|Article II, Section 1, Clause{{nbsp}}3]] of the Constitution, which stipulates that if two or three persons received a majority vote and an equal vote, the House of Representatives would choose one of them for president; the {{nowrap|runner-up}} would become vice president.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/80/electoral-college|title=Essays on Article II: Electoral College|last=Kuroda|first=Tadahisa|website=The Heritage Guide to The Constitution|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|access-date=July 27, 2018}}</ref> On February 17, 1801, Jefferson was elected president on the 36th ballot, and Burr elected vice president. Afterward, the system was overhauled through the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] in time to be used in the [[1804 United States presidential election|1804 election]].<ref name="HF-XII">{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/12/essays/165/electoral-college|title=Essays on Amendment XII: Electoral College|last=Fried|first=Charles|website=The Heritage Guide to the Constitution|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|access-date=February 20, 2018}}</ref> A quarter-century later, the choice for president again devolved to the House when no candidate won an absolute majority of electoral votes (131 of 261) in the [[1824 United States presidential election|election of 1824]]. Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House was required to choose a president from among the top three electoral vote recipients: [[Andrew Jackson]], [[John Quincy Adams]], and [[William H. Crawford]]. Held February 9, 1825, this second and most recent contingent election resulted in John Quincy Adams being elected president on the first ballot.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boller|first=Paul F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZ_fSmFIabQC|title=Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington to George W. Bush|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-516716-0|edition=2nd revised|location=New York, New York|pages=36–39|access-date=August 2, 2018}}</ref>