The United States Electoral College, is an out of date system we use to select the President of the United States. The candidate to reach 270 electoral votes wins.
The number of electoral votes for each state, is the sum of its U.S. Senators (two) and number of U.S. Representatives (the District of Columbia has the same number of votes it would if it was a state -three).
State ballots, however, suggest that voters are voting for President. This is not true. Every state (except Maine and Nebraska) uses the short ballot, in which a vote for one party is a vote for a slate of Presidential Electors. 41 days after the Popular vote, the Electors make their choice for President. Around one month following the casting of electoral votes, U.S. Congress meets to declare the winner of the election.