An electorate is a body of people who are allowed to vote in an election. It is a subdivision of a larger state created to provide its population with representation in the government. The names for electoral districts vary across countries and, occasionally, for the office being elected. The term constituency is commonly used to refer to an electoral district, especially in British English, but it can also refer to the body of eligible voters or all the residents of the represented area or only those who voted for a certain candidate. The terms (election) precinct and election district are more common in American English. In Australia and New Zealand, electoral districts are called electorates, however elsewhere the term electorate generally refers specifically to the body of voters. In New Zealand, electorates are voting areas where people can vote for a candidate to represent their electorate in Parliament. The candidate who wins the most votes becomes the local member of Parliament. Each electorate has roughly the same number of people, but the geographic size of each area may be different. The United States has an Electoral College, which consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Each candidate running for President in a state has their own group of electors, known as a slate. The slates are generally chosen by the candidate’s political party in the state, but state laws vary on how the electors are selected and what their responsibilities are.