Editing Vice President of the United States (section)

===Election===
{{Main|United States Electoral College}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege2028.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|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 vice president is elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the 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. 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|title=Twenty-third Amendment|url=http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/twenty-third-amendment|work=Annenberg Classroom|date=March 29, 1961|publisher=The Annenberg Public Policy Center|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|access-date=July 30, 2018|archive-date=July 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731062243/http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/twenty-third-amendment|url-status=live}}</ref> Currently, all states and D.C. select their electors based on a popular election held on [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]].<ref name=CRS2017THN/> 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|title=About the Electors|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html|work=U.S. Electoral College|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=August 2, 2018|archive-date=July 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721012941/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html|url-status=live}}</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|title=Maine & Nebraska|url=http://www.fairvote.org/maine_nebraska|website=fairvote.com|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=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Split Electoral Votes in Maine and Nebraska|url=https://www.270towin.com/content/split-electoral-votes-maine-and-nebraska/|website=[[270towin.com]]|access-date=August 1, 2018|archive-date=August 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802041034/https://www.270towin.com/content/split-electoral-votes-maine-and-nebraska/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, the electors convene in their respective states (and in Washington D.C.) to vote for president and, on a separate ballot, for vice president. The certified results are opened and counted during a joint session of Congress, held in the first week of January. A candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes for vice president (currently 270 of 538) is declared the winner. If no candidate has a majority, the Senate must meet to elect a vice president using a contingent election procedure in which senators, casting votes individually, choose between the two candidates who received the most electoral votes for vice president. For a candidate to win the contingent election, they must receive votes from an absolute majority of senators (currently 51 of 100).<ref name=CRS2017THN/><ref>{{cite web|title=What is the Electoral College?|url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html|work=U.S. Electoral College|publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]]|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=August 2, 2018|archive-date=December 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212192807/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

There has been only one vice presidential contingent election since the process was created by the Twelfth Amendment. It occurred on February 8, 1837, after no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes cast for vice president in the [[1836 United States presidential election|1836 election]]. By a 33–17 vote, [[Richard M. Johnson]] ([[Martin Van Buren]]'s running mate) was elected the nation's ninth vice president over [[Francis Granger]] ([[William Henry Harrison]]'s and [[Daniel Webster]]'s running mate).<ref>{{cite web|last=Bomboy|first=Scott|title=The one election where Faithless Electors made a difference|date=December 19, 2016|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-one-election-where-faithless-electors-made-a-difference|work=Constitution Daily|publisher=National Constitution Center|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|access-date=July 30, 2018|archive-date=February 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214233225/https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-one-election-where-faithless-electors-made-a-difference|url-status=live}}</ref>