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Does your vote count? The Electoral College explained - Christina Greer

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You vote, but then what? Discover how your individual vote contributes to the popular vote and your state's electoral vote in different ways--and see how votes are counted on both state and national levels.

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WASHINGTON - The House and Senate voted Wednesday to reject President Obama's veto of legislation allowing lawsuits against foreign sponsors of terrorism - the first successful override of a presidential veto since Obama took office.

The president had vetoed the legislation Friday because he said the bill - known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA - would infringe on the president's ability to conduct foreign policy. It was the 12th veto of his presidency.

But after an intense push by 9/11 survivors and families of victims who want to sue Saudi Arabia based on claims the country played a role in the 2001 terror attacks, even Obama's Democratic allies on Capitol Hill voted to override his veto.

The House voted 348-77, well above the two-thirds majority needed. The final vote tally in the Senate was 97-1. Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., cast the lone dissenting vote.

"In our polarized politics of today, this is pretty much close to a miraculous occurrence," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said. Democrats and Republicans in both chambers agreed, he said, that the bill "gives the victims of the terrorist attack on our own soil an opportunity to seek the justice they deserve."

The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he shared some of Obama's concerns but said the victims' rights outweighed them.

"We cannot in good conscience close the courthouse door to those families who have suffered unimaginable losses," Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said.

Obama told CNN on Wednesday that he thinks overriding his veto was a "mistake" and "basically a political vote." But he said he understood why Congress voted the way it did, despite what he suggested were private misgivings among some lawmakers.

"If you're perceived as voting against 9/11 families right before an election, not surprisingly, that's a hard vote for people to take," he said. "But it would have been the right thing to do."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest decried the override as the "single most embarrassing thing the United States Senate has done possibly since 1983."

"Ultimately these senators are going to have to answer their own conscience and their constituents as they account for their actions today," he said, adding that Reid showed "courage" in opposing it.

The measure essentially creates an exception to sovereign immunity, the doctrine that holds one country can't be sued in another country's courts. It allows plaintiffs to sue other nations in U.S. federal courts for monetary damages in cases of injury, death or property damage caused by acts of international terrorism in the United States.

The White House has argued that the legislation will prompt other nations to retaliate, stripping the immunity the United States enjoys in other parts of the world. Obama said in a letter to Reid before Wednesday's vote that lawsuits already are allowed against countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. government.

The president warned the law could be "devastating" to the U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence communities.

"The United States relies on principles of immunity to prevent foreign litigants and foreign courts from second-guessing our counter-terrorism operations and other actions that we take every day," he wrote.

Former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and former U.S. Attorney Michael Mukasey, both of whom served under President George W. Bush, have echoed similar concerns in recent weeks.

"An errant drone strike that kills non-combatants in Afghanistan could easily trigger lawsuits demanding that U.S. military or intelligence personnel be hauled into foreign courts," Bolton and Mukasey wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed earlier this month.

But proponents of the law maintain that it is narrowly tailored, and some lawmakers who said they still had doubts before Wednesday's vote said they would monitor any possible fallout and pass new legislation fixing any problems that arise.

Two dozen 9/11 families gathered in the Senate and House public galleries Wednesday to watch the override votes.

"This is what we have been fighting for over a decade,'' said Terry Strada, national chairwoman of the 9/11 Families & Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism.

The legislation provides the green light to several lawsuits - consolidated into one case on behalf of 9/11 victims and several insurance companies - as lawyers attempt to prove Saudi government involvement in the terrorist plot. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on 9/11 were Saudi nationals.

The 9/11 commission did not find any proof of Saudi government involvement, but the families still want to examine any possible links not yet uncovered.

"I don't think anybody should ever have any immunity for what happened on 9/11," said Lorie Van Auken, whose husband worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and died in the attack on the World Trade Center. "It's about justice. It's about where this will lead us. It's not about money."

In his unusual three-page veto message to Congress last week, Obama said he has "deep sympathy" for the families of victims of terrorism.

"I recognize that there is nothing that could ever erase the grief the 9/11 families have endured," Obama wrote. "Enacting JASTA into law, however, would neither protect Americans from terrorist attacks nor improve the effectiveness of our response to such attacks."
Contributing: Gregory Korte
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Congress rejects Obama veto of 9/11 bill; first override of his presidency

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CLOSE WASHINGTON - The House and Senate voted Wednesday to reject President Obama's veto of legislation allowing lawsuits against foreign sponsors of terrorism - the first successful override of a presidential veto since Obama took office.

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Donald J. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to win the 2016 U.S. election on Tuesday, November 8, by a margin of 306 electoral votes to 232. The Republican nominee, and victor, Donald J. Trump, Chairman of the Trump Organization, is a real estate developer and television personality. The Democratic Party nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is a former U.S. Senator from New York, who also served as Secretary of State and First Lady. Other candidates included the Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein, a physician and activist. Hillary Clinton won the nationwide popular vote by nearly three million votes, receiving 65,844,610 votes to 62,979,636 for Trump.
"Make America Great Again."
Donald J. Trump (b. 1946) is a well-known businessman and television personality. He has never held government office or served in the military. He will be the first such candidate to ever serve as President. Announcing his candidacy in June 2015, he said "Our country is in terrible trouble. We don't have victories any more," and he promised to "build a great, great wall on our Southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for it." Trump has run an unconventional campaign, relying on frequent coverage on television and a personal use of social media.
"We Are Stronger Together."
Hillary Rodham Clinton (b. 1947) was the first lady during the presidency of her husband, Bill Clinton (1993-2001). She has served as U.S. Senator from New York State (2001-2009) and as Secretary of State to President Barack Obama (2000-2013). In April 2015, she became the first candidate to announce her run for the presidency in the 2016 election. During the video message declaring her candidacy, she used a traditional Democratic Party theme, "Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion."

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The Living Room Candidate - Commercials - 2016 - America Soaring

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An archive of presidential campaign commercials from 1952 to the present, organized by year, type, and issue, with teacher resources and playlists by experts.

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The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

What is the process?

The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress.

How many electors are there? How are they distributed among the States?

The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your State has the same number of electors as it does Members in its Congressional delegation: one for each Member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. Read more about the allocation of electoral votes.

The District of Columbia is allocated 3 electors and treated like a State for purposes of the Electoral College under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution. For this reason, in the following discussion, the word "State" also refers to the District of Columbia and "Governor" to the Mayor of the District of Columbia.

How are my electors chosen? What are their qualifications? How do they decide who to vote for?

Each candidate running for President in your State has his or her own group of electors (known as a slate). The slates are generally chosen by the candidate's political party in your State, but State laws vary on how the electors are selected and what their responsibilities are. Read more about the qualifications of the electors and restrictions on who the electors may vote for.

What happens in the general election? Why should I vote?

The general election is held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. When you vote for a Presidential candidate you are actually voting for your candidate's preferred electors. Learn more about voting for the electors.

Most States have a "winner-take-all" system that awards all electors to the Presidential candidate who wins the State's popular vote. However, Maine and Nebraska each have a variation of "proportional representation." Read more about the allocation of electors among the States.

What happens after the general election?

After the general election, your Governor prepares a Certificate of Ascertainment listing the names of all the individuals on the slates for each candidate. The Certificate of Ascertainment also lists the number of votes each individual received and shows which individuals were appointed as your State's electors. Your State's Certificate of Ascertainment is sent to NARA as part of the official records of the Presidential election.

The meeting of the electors takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the general election. The electors meet in their respective States, where they cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots. Your State's electors' votes are recorded on a Certificate of Vote, which is prepared at the meeting by the electors. Your State's Certificate of Vote is sent to Congress, where the votes are counted, and NARA, as part of the official records of the Presidential election.

Each State's electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress on the 6th of January in the year following the meeting of the electors. Members of the House and Senate meet in the House Chamber to conduct the official count of electoral votes. The Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides over the count and announces the results of the vote. The President of the Senate then declares which persons, if any, have been elected President and Vice President of the United States.

The President-elect takes the oath of office and is sworn in as President of the United States on January 20th in the year following the general election.

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The Electoral College website now has an easy-to-remember address. Make sure to update your bookmarks! The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

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Lots of people dream of becoming President of the United States. But to officially run for office, a person needs to meet three basic requirements established by the U.S. Constitution (Article 2, Section 1).

A Presidential candidate must be:

A natural born citizen (U.S. citizen from birth)

At least 35 years old and

A U.S. resident (permanently lives in the U.S.) for at least 14 years

Step 1: Primaries and Caucuses
People with similar ideas usually belong to the same political party. The two main parties in the U.S. are Republican and Democrat.

Many people want to be President. They campaign around the country and compete to try to win their party's nomination.

In caucuses, party members meet, discuss, and vote for who they think would be the best party candidate.

In primaries, party members vote in a state election for the candidate they want to represent them in the general election.
Step 2: National Conventions and General Election
After the primaries and caucuses, each major party, Democrat and Republican, holds a national convention to select a Presidential nominee.

The party's Presidential nominee announces his or her choice for Vice President.

The Presidential candidates campaign throughout the country to win the support of the general population.

On election day, people in every state cast their vote .
Step 3: The Electoral College
When people cast their vote, they are actually voting for a group of people called electors.

The number of electors each state gets is equal to its total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress. A total of 538 electors form the Electoral College.

Each elector casts one vote following the general election. The candidate who gets 270 votes or more wins.

The newly elected President and Vice President are then inaugurated on January 20th.

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Lots of people dream of becoming President of the United States. But to officially run for office, a person needs to meet three basic requirements established by the U.S. Constitution (Article 2, Section 1). A Presidential candidate must be: A natural born citizen (U.S. citizen from birth) At least 35 years old and A U.S.

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Three Branches of Government School House Rock

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How a bill becomes law School House Rock