Americans vote for President in November, but the Constitution (Article II and the Twelfth Amendment) has electors choose the President. Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress: its House seats plus two senators. The District of Columbia gets three (the Twenty-third Amendment).
Why it works
The arithmetic: 435 representatives + 100 senators + 3 for D.C. = 538 electors, and a majority is 270. In 48 states and D.C., the candidate who wins the state's popular vote gets all its electors. Maine and Nebraska give two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner of each congressional district. If no one has 270, the House chooses among the top three, with each state delegation casting one vote; the Senate chooses the Vice President. Because states are won whole, a candidate can win the Electoral College while losing the national popular vote. Supporters say the system makes candidates seek support across many states, protects the role of states and confines disputes to single states. Critics say it lets a minority of voters choose the President and focuses campaigns on a few close "swing" states. Some states have joined a compact to award their electors to the national vote winner, which would take effect only if states with 270 electoral votes join. Hamilton defended the design in Federalist No. 68.
| Year | Electoral College winner | National popular vote leader |
|---|---|---|
| 1824 | no majority; the House chose John Quincy Adams | Andrew Jackson |
| 1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes | Samuel J. Tilden |
| 1888 | Benjamin Harrison | Grover Cleveland |
| 2000 | George W. Bush | Al Gore |
| 2016 | Donald Trump | Hillary Clinton |
Key idea
Each state has electors equal to its House seats plus two; D.C. has three: 538 in all, and a candidate needs 270. 48 states award all their electors to the statewide winner; Maine and Nebraska also award by district. With no majority, the House chooses, one vote per state.
Worked example: Counting electors
Texas has 38 House seats after the 2020 census. How many electoral votes does it have?
- House seats + 2 senators.
- 38 + 2 = 40.
Answer: 40 electoral votes.
Worked example: Who wins?
Candidate A wins states worth 268 electoral votes; Candidate B wins states worth 270. Who becomes President, and what if it had been 269 to 269?
- 270 is a majority of 538, so B wins.
- At 269 to 269 no one has a majority: the House chooses, with each state delegation casting one vote.
Answer: B wins; a tie goes to the House.
Common mistake
Thinking the national popular vote winner always wins. Five times (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, 2016) the popular vote leader did not become President; in 1824 no one had an electoral majority and the House chose. Check: count electoral votes, not national votes.