Final answer:
Presidential electors are individuals chosen to cast a state's votes for President and Vice President in the United States' Electoral College system. Each state has a set number of electors based on congressional representation, and these electors meet in their states to vote formally for the candidates they are pledged to support.
Step-by-step explanation:
Persons elected to cast a state's vote for U.S. President and Vice President are called presidential electors. The United States follows an indirect method of electing its president through a system known as the Electoral College. In this process, voters in a presidential election do not directly vote for the presidential candidates. Instead, they vote for electors who are pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Each state is allocated a certain number of electors based on its total congressional representation, which equals the sum of its Senators and Representatives in the U.S. Congress. The electors meet in their respective states to formally cast their ballots for President and Vice-President. This is in line with the Twelfth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and the votes are then transmitted to the President of the Senate to be counted in a joint session of Congress.
The total number of electors is 538, representing the 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, plus three electors from the District of Columbia. The electors' role is to reflect the popular vote of the state they represent, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine, where the electoral votes can be split according to congressional district results. The candidate considered victorious in the electoral college must secure a majority of the electoral votes.