We’re choosing a new President of the United States this year. We’re still in the primary and caucus phase of picking candidates. Once that’s done we’ll be moving toward the general election in the fall. But unlike other elections in which popular vote decides the winner, the president is chosen based on the outcome of the Electoral College votes. It’s a bit of a complicated process. Both of the videos embedded below do a good job of succinctly explaining how the Electoral College works.

How the Electoral College Works, embedded below, gives a nice overview of the Electoral College. The video isn’t perfect, I wish the producer had included that the number of Electoral votes a state receives is tied to the number of Senators and Representative it has. Instead the video simply stated that the number of Electoral votes is tied to population. Overall, it’s not a bad summary of the Electoral College.

Another good video overview of the Electoral College can be found in Common Craft’s Electing a US President in Plain English. The video can be viewed on YouTube, but cannot be embedded unless you’re a subscriber to Common Craft’s service. (Disclosure: I have an in-kind relationship with Common Craft).