Georgia’s status as a swing state has drawn Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to the state frequently to woo voters. It’s paramount for candidates to win swing states if they want to win the election.
That’s because the Electoral College determines who wins the presidency. It’s a process that helps balance how much influence states have on the election’s outcome.
According to the Cook Political Report, there are nearly equal numbers of electors in Republican and Democratic states. This is why swing states like Georgia have the power to determine who wins the presidency.
How does the Electoral College work?
The Electoral College is made up of 538 electors nationally, and a presidential candidate must get 270 votes to win an election.
In most states, the number of electors is determined by the sum of its U.S. Senate and House seats. Every state has two U.S. senators and the number of U.S. House representatives is determined by population size.
For example, Georgia has two U.S. senators and 14 House representatives; therefore it has 16 electors.
In all 50 states, each political party has its own slate of electors on deck ahead of the election. Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a state, that party’s slate of electors participates in the Electoral College.
For example, Biden won the popular vote in Georgia in 2020. Therefore, a slate of 16 Democratic electors voted in the Electoral College. (The separate slate of 16 Republicans did not get to vote.)
The winner of an election can be projected on election night, although the electoral process isn’t finished. This year, electoral voting will occur on Dec. 17, and Congress’ count of those votes will occur on Jan. 6.
Before an election, electors pledge to vote for their party’s candidate, according to the Library of Congress. This unanimous vote is called a “winner-takes-all” system. It’s extremely rare for electors to vote for another party’s candidate, known as “faithless voting.”
Why the Electoral College?
The Electoral College creates a more level playing field for states with drastically different populations. Under a popular vote system, states with small populations would have little influence compared to states with massive populations.
It was originally established to boost the political power of southern slave states and protect the institution of slavery, PBS reports.
Around 63% of Americans would prefer the popular vote to decide elections, not the Electoral College, according to the Pew Research Center. The survey found that more Democrats oppose the Electoral College than Republicans, but Republican support is declining.
There have been five instances in U.S. history where the Electoral College produced a different result than the popular vote, according to the National Archives. The two recent instances were in 2000 and 2016, when Al Gore and later Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in those respective years.
Georgia’s Electoral College
Each state’s party leadership decides its slate of electors ahead of an election. For instance, the Georgia Republican Party has a list of 16 individuals who would automatically become electors if Trump wins Georgia.
The way Georgia.gov puts it, “When you cast a vote for a presidential candidate, you’re not actually voting for the president; you’re voting for a group of people called ‘electors.’”
Electors are typically state lawmakers or other other notable party members in the state. The only requirement is that the individual can’t hold a federal office.
Notable names among 2020’s Democratic electors were Stacey Abrams, who unsuccessfully ran for Georgia governor in 2022, then-state Sen. Nikema Williams (now a U.S. House rep), and long serving state lawmakers Gloria Butler and Calvin Smyre.
The 2020 election’s false electors
In the 2020 election, Biden received 302 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win.
In the aftermath of the election, some states, including Georgia, attempted to certify slates of alternative electors to overturn the results in favor of Trump.
It was a coordinated plan that required seven swing states — all states that Biden won — to appoint Republican electors to falsely declare Trump the winner in those states.
The plan would have fraudulently given Trump the electoral votes he needed to win the election.
In Georgia, 16 false electors signed a document falsely stating that Trump won Georgia.
The plan failed and the 16 individuals were among 19 people indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia’s election interference case.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Nikema Williams is a former state House representative. This story has been updated to reflect that Williams is a former state Senator.
