I'm Elise Hugh. This is TED Talks Daily. We're only weeks out now from the U.S. presidential election.

So today we have a timely explainer on why Americans vote the way we do through the system called the Electoral College.

Do our votes count? This TED-Ed lesson from our archive features educator Christina Greer.

TEDED is TED's Youth and Education Initiative, and you can find more lessons like this one at ed. ted.com.

Most people have heard of the Electoral College during presidential election years.

But what exactly is the Electoral College?

Simply said, it is a group of people appointed by each state who formerly elect the president and vice president of the United States.

To understand how this process began and how it continues today, we can look at the Constitution of the United States.

Article 2, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution. It specifies how many electors each state is

entitled to have. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election.

How did they decide on the number 538? Well, the number of

electors is equal to the total voting membership of the United States Congress, 435 representatives,

plus 100 senators, and three electors from the District of Columbia. Essentially, the Democratic

candidate and Republican candidate are each trying to add up the

electors in every state so that they surpass 270 electoral votes, or just over half of 538

votes, and win the presidency.

So how do states even get electoral votes?

Each state receives a particular number of electors based on population size.

The census is conducted every 10 years, so every time the census happens, states might gain

or lose a few electoral votes. Let's say you're a voter in California, a state with 55 electoral

votes. If your candidate wins in California, they get all 55 of the state's electoral votes.

If your candidate loses, they get none.

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