The Supreme Court unanimously ruled this morning that the 538 members of the Electoral College cannot vote as they please and must vote as the laws of their states direct.
Justice Elena Kagan wrote today regarding the decision:
“The Constitution’s text and the nation’s history both support allowing a state to enforce an elector’s pledge to support his party’s nominee — and the state voters’ choice — for President.”
If the ruling went the other way, electoral college members could vote for whoever they wanted to. Now, they must vote based off of the popular vote in their state.
It takes 278 electoral college votes to become President of the United States.