This may seem silly, but when you vote in the November general election for the President, you're actually voting for electors who will then vote for the President. We vote in November, but our electors will gather at the Texas State Capital in December to cast their votes.

 

Electors are a part of the Electoral College, and each state has as many electors as they have members of Congress. So, since Texas has two Senators and 36 members in the House of Representatives for a total of 38 members of Congress, we have 38 electors. Because of the sheer size of Texas, we're like a grand prize for Presidential hopefuls. Most states only send around five electors, but we fall close behind California with the second highest number of electors in the country. Out of 538 electoral college votes a Presidential hopeful needs 270 to win an election, and 38 of those can come just from the state of Texas.

 

Your vote in November is what's called the Popular vote, and electors base their votes off of who wins the popular vote in each state. Texas electors must be qualified voters, not serve in Congress or any other federal office, and be affiliated with a political party. Electors in Texas are nominated by their respective political party. Electors who choose to break from the popular vote are called "Faithless electors," and are unlikely to be electors again. They could even be booted from their political party for this bold behavior.

 

When you're watching election coverage this November look for whoever wins the popular vote across Texas and other states. It's a good indicator of who will win the electoral college, and from that the Presidency and Vice Presidency.

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