Picturing the Electoral College
The Decisive Stage in the Process of Electing a National Leader
The meeting of the electors will take place on December 17, 2024. The electors of each State cast their votes for President and Vice President based on the results of the general election in their State. The votes are then sent to Congress to be counted.
There’s mounting talk, even a bit of movement, to abolish that particularly American institution: The Electoral College. But what exactly is it? Why is it even called a college? Does it involve professors and students and required courses? Maybe change is stalled because few of us can imagine what the Electoral College does or even looks like.
American photography historian Sally Stein thinks it’s high time to rip back the veil of secrecy and/or ignorance. Organized by UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography, Picturing the Electoral College promises to shine light on this decisive stage in this uniquely US process that is arguably at odds with the idea of direct, democratic elections.
However readily we might be bombarded by images of the theatrical process of partisan conventions nominating party candidates and images of people waiting in—sometimes excessively long—lines to cast their votes, the resulting sums of popular votes do not lead directly to a victory for one presidential candidate or another. Rather than a singular “college” where the final voting might take place, the US system relies on as many assemblies as there are States (50) plus the District of Columbia.
The CMP will collect photoreportages from 51 seasoned photographers documenting the electoral college on December 17. We consider this collective effort one way to advance our understanding of the current process of selecting US leaders, and anticipate it may inspire lively discussion.
Picturing the Electoral College: The Decisive Stage in the Process of Electing a National Leader is an online exhibition organized by UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography. Exhibition concept by Sally Stein, Professor Emerita, Department of Art History, UC Irvine. Programs at UCR ARTS are supported by the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at UCR and by the City of Riverside.