How many Electoral College votes does Missouri have? And how are electors picked?
With Election Day underway in Kansas City and the rest of the United States, both the Republican and Democratic candidates for president hope to receive the majority of the electoral votes from the Electoral College.
The Electoral College has been used since the United States Constitution was signed in 1787. It’s a process by which Americans indirectly elect their president and vice president through their state’s electors. Candidates must secure 270 electoral votes, a majority of the 538 at stake, to win the White House.
Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on its total number of U.S. senators and representatives in Congress. In most states, whoever gets the most votes in each state takes all the electoral votes. Missouri gets 10 electoral votes because it has two senators and eight U.S. representatives.
Who makes up Missouri’s electors? How are they selected to represent the state? Here’s what to know about the Electoral College.
How is the Electoral College selected in Missouri?
Missouri’s Electoral College is made up of a representative from each congressional district, and two more from the state who are selected at-large, according to a state statute. The state has eight congressional districts, withboundaries that were most recently shifted in 2022.
The state committee of each established party sends its list of nominees for the electoral college to the secretary of state with a signed and notarized declaration of candidacy from each nominee, the statute says. If one of the electors doesn’t show up to vote at the state capitol in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Dec. 17, the remaining electors choose someone else to fill the empty spot.
Each representative must live in the congressional district in which they were selected. The names of the Electoral College aren’t revealed until after the election, when Missouri leaders prepare a Certificate of Ascertainment listing them all.
Who are the electors?
The electors could be anyone, but they are usually state and local elected officials, party leaders, community activists and others affiliated with the party, the National Archive says. They are selected “to recognize their service and dedication to that political party,” the government website says.
People who were elected in 2020 include Susie Eckelcamp, who was the national committeewoman of the Republican Party of Missouri in 2014 and Dan Hegeman, a former Missouri Republican senator, political website Ballotpedia says.
There are no major qualifications, but members of Congress and certain other office-holders are not allowed to be in the Electoral College. Anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion is also not allowed.
