---
title: "Electors — AP Gov Definition & Electoral College Guide"
description: "Electors are the people who actually cast a state's Electoral College votes for president. Learn how states allocate them and why it matters for AP Gov Topic 5.8."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-gov/key-terms/electors"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP US Government"
unit: "Unit 5"
---

# Electors — AP Gov Definition & Electoral College Guide

## Definition

Electors are the individuals each state appoints to cast its Electoral College votes for president; each state gets electors equal to its House plus Senate seats, and states choose how to allocate them, with most using a winner-take-all system (AP Gov Topic 5.8, EK 5.8.B).

## What It Is

Here's the part of [presidential elections](/ap-gov/unit-5/congressional-elections/study-guide/mvTrUNa6fFD9Gt98lbnc "fv-autolink") most people get wrong. When you vote for president in November, you're not actually voting for the candidate. You're voting for a slate of **electors** pledged to that candidate. Those electors are the people who cast the real, official votes for president in the [Electoral College](/ap-gov/key-terms/electoral-college "fv-autolink"). Each state gets a number of electors equal to its total seats in Congress (House members plus two senators), and a candidate needs a majority of all 538 electoral votes, which is 270, to win.

The CED's big point is that **states decide how to allocate their electors**. Forty-eight states use [winner-take-all](/ap-gov/key-terms/winner-take-all "fv-autolink"), meaning whoever wins the state's popular vote, even by one ballot, gets every single elector. Maine and Nebraska do it differently, awarding some electors by congressional district. Because electors are awarded state by state rather than by national totals, the Electoral College result can disagree with the nationwide popular vote. That's exactly what happened in 2000, the CED's illustrative example, and it's the engine of the ongoing debate over whether to keep the system.

## Why It Matters

Electors live in **[Unit 5](/ap-gov/unit-5 "fv-autolink") (Political Participation), Topic 5.8 (Electing a President)**, and they're the mechanism behind learning objective **5.8.B**, which asks you to explain how the Electoral College affects presidential elections. They also show up in **5.8.A**, where the Electoral College is listed as one of the six factors shaping the presidential election process. The exam doesn't just want you to know electors exist. It wants you to explain consequences. Winner-take-all allocation means candidates pour resources into [swing states](/ap-gov/key-terms/swing-states "fv-autolink") and ignore safe ones, small states get slightly more weight per voter, and a popular vote winner can lose the presidency. That last point fuels the Electoral College debate the CED explicitly names, which makes electors a natural hook for argument essay prompts about democracy and representation.

## Connections

### [Electoral College (Unit 5)](/ap-gov/key-terms/electoral-college)

Electors are the moving parts inside the Electoral College machine. The Electoral College is the system; electors are the actual people casting the 538 votes. If a question asks how the system 'affects' elections, the answer almost always comes down to how electors are allocated.

### Conventions and Delegates (Unit 5)

Delegates and electors are both intermediaries between voters and outcomes, but they work at different stages. Delegates go to [party conventions](/ap-gov/key-terms/party-conventions "fv-autolink") to choose the nominee. Electors vote months later to choose the actual president. Same logic, different election.

### Federalism and State Power Over Elections (Unit 1)

[The Constitution](/ap-gov/key-terms/the-constitution "fv-autolink") lets each state legislature decide how its electors are chosen, which is why Maine and Nebraska can split their votes while everyone else goes winner-take-all. This is also why a national popular vote can't simply be passed as a regular law; it would take a constitutional amendment to override the elector system.

### 12th Amendment (Unit 5)

After the chaotic election of 1800, the 12th Amendment changed how electors vote, requiring them to cast separate ballots for president and [vice president](/ap-gov/key-terms/vice-president "fv-autolink"). It's the classic example of the elector process being modified by amendment, and it shows up in multiple-choice questions.

## On the AP Exam

Electors show up most often in multiple-choice questions about institutional design. Expect stems asking why Maine and Nebraska differ from other states (they allocate some electors by congressional district instead of winner-take-all), which amendment separated the presidential and vice presidential ballots (the 12th), and what constitutional constraint blocks a national popular vote without an amendment (the Constitution assigns electors to states). You should also be ready to compare nomination-stage processes like caucuses and primaries with the general-election elector system. No released FRQ has used 'electors' verbatim, but the Electoral College debate is prime argument essay material, so be able to argue both sides using winner-take-all, swing-state focus, and the 2000 popular vote/electoral vote split as evidence.

## electors vs Delegates

Delegates and electors both 'vote on behalf of voters,' which is why they get mixed up constantly. Delegates are chosen through primaries and caucuses and vote at the party convention to pick the party's nominee. Electors are chosen through the November general election and cast the official Electoral College votes that decide who becomes president. Quick check for the exam. If the question is about nominations, it's delegates. If it's about the general election, it's electors.

## Key Takeaways

- Electors are the individuals who cast each state's official Electoral College votes for president, and each state gets electors equal to its House seats plus its two Senate seats.
- States decide for themselves how to allocate electors, and 48 states use winner-take-all, where the statewide popular vote winner gets every elector.
- Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions, awarding two electors statewide and the rest by congressional district.
- Because electors are awarded state by state, the Electoral College winner can lose the national popular vote, which happened in 2000 and drives the ongoing debate over the system.
- A candidate needs 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win the presidency.
- The 12th Amendment changed the elector process by requiring separate ballots for president and vice president.

## FAQs

### What are electors in AP Gov?

Electors are the people each state appoints to cast its Electoral College votes for president. When you vote in November, you're technically voting for a slate of electors pledged to your candidate, and each state gets electors equal to its total seats in Congress.

### Does the candidate who wins the popular vote always win the presidency?

No. Because electors are awarded state by state (mostly winner-take-all), a candidate can win the nationwide popular vote and still lose the Electoral College. The 2000 election is the CED's go-to example, and 2016 repeated the pattern.

### How are electors different from delegates?

Delegates vote at party conventions to choose a party's nominee during the nomination process. Electors vote after the general election to officially choose the president. Delegates belong to the primary/caucus stage; electors belong to the Electoral College stage.

### How do states decide how to allocate their electors?

Each state chooses its own method. Forty-eight states give all their electors to the statewide popular vote winner (winner-take-all), while Maine and Nebraska award some electors by congressional district. This state-level control is why changing to a national popular vote would require a constitutional amendment.

### How many electors are there total, and how many does a candidate need to win?

There are 538 electors total, matching the 435 House members, 100 senators, and 3 electors for Washington, D.C. A candidate needs a majority, 270 electoral votes, to win the presidency.

## Related Study Guides

- [5.8 Electing a President](/ap-gov/unit-5/electing-president/study-guide/ZHiyfIScEjhLmiSHs7If)

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