One Big Thing: Do you know how the electoral college works?

Today marks the start of the electoral college vote, where each state’s delegates will cast their votes to officially name Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the winners of the 2020 election. The electoral college has been an important piece of voting and elections since the beginning of American elections. In the U.S. Constitution (Article II Section 1), it was established that the electoral college would decide who would be the next American presidential ticket for upcoming terms (the ticket includes both the President and Vice President). The electoral college in the United States is based on the number of senators and representatives from each state, making it a total of 538 electoral votes. In order to become president, a candidate must win up to 270 votes. In contrast, the popular vote counts the overall number of votes for each candidate, regardless of where each voter is registered. Even if a candidate wins the popular vote they can still lose the election because the electoral college actually decides the winner to the presidency. Watch the electoral college live on PBS HERE.

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• What's the difference between a popular vote and electoral college vote?
• Here's how long states have to count votes, according to federal law