Electors Don't Vote When The Rest Of Us Do

As Election Day looms ahead (Tuesday, Nov. 8 — the scares don't end after Halloween, kids), all kinds of questions about the Electoral College come into play. How does it operate? How are the electors chosen? When do the electors vote? The first of those questions can be answered here, and the second here, and the last — well, that's right here.

According to Archives.gov, the 538 electors vote on a very (very) specific day — the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election, to be exact. Just to remind ya, Election Day itself also falls on a super specific day as well. Every four years, it's on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. It's kind of like how Thanksgiving works.

"The meeting of the electors takes place on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December after the presidential election," the site states. "The electors meet in their respective states, where they cast their votes for President and Vice President on separate ballots." That would mean that this years' electors will cast their votes on Monday, Dec. 19 — an extremely crucial day, no doubt. The presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.

With such a historic election just a few weeks away — and with the third and final debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump still ringing in everyone's ears — it's no small wonder as to why the electoral college is on everyone's minds. After all, it is the 538 members of the electoral college who will ultimately decide the next president. That date — the one where all electoral votes are counted and the next President of the United States is officially decided — is on Jan. 6, 2017.

Hold on to your hats.