in the United States, a body of men who are chosen by the people of the several states to elect the president and vice-president. The number of electors chosen by each state is equal to the whole number of members that the state sends to both houses of Congress. No senator or representative or person holding an office or profit or trust under the United States can be chosen as an elector. The day on which electors are chosen must be the same in all states--the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November. The electors meet in their respective states on the second Monday in January and vote by ballot for president and vice-president. They then make distinct lists of all persons voted for as president and vice-president, and of the number of votes for each; these lists they sign, certify and transmit, sealed, to Washington, directed to the president of the Senate, who opens them in the presence of both houses of Congress, on the second Wednesday of the succeeding February. A majority of the whole number of electoral votes is necessary to elect. If no candidate has a majority of votes, the House of Representatives must choose one of the three persons having the highest number of votes. The electors no longer use discretionary powers, as planned by the Constitution makers, but cast their votes for the candidates previously nominated by their respective parties.