Electoral College Map

This map shows the number of votes each state has in the Electoral College.



Disclaimer : All efforts have been made to make this image accurate. However Compare Infobase Limited, its directors and employees do not own any responsibility for the correctness or authenticity of the same.

A group of 538 electors will meet in state capitols across the country, chosen by their parties to cast votes for president and vice president. The United States Presidential Election process uses a form of indirect election. That is, the president is not elected by popular vote, and voters do not cast their votes directly for the President. When Americans cast their ballots, they are able to vote for any of the presidential candidates listed on the ticket, or even write in a different name, if they so choose. However, American voters are really choosing between what are called electors – not directly for any of the presidential candidates.

Electoral College in the Constitution

Designated by the U.S. Constitution, the Electoral College is a compromise between Congress electing the president and a popular vote, as it falls somewhere in between the two. The reason for the somewhat complicated system we use dates back to the creation of the Constitution. Article II, Section I of the Constitution creates the basis for the electoral system, and designates the number of electoral votes awarded as “equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives” of each state. It also prohibits Senators, Representatives, and anyone holding an “Office of Trust or Profit” from becoming an elector.

United States Electoral College – Statewise Votes

State Name Number of Votes State Name Number of Votes
Alabama 9 Montana 3
Alaska 3 Nebraska 5
Arizona 11 Nevada 6
Arkansas 6 New Hampshire 4
California 55 New Jersey 14
Colorado 9 New Mexico 5
Connecticut 7 New York 29
Delaware 3 North Carolina 15
Florida 29 North Dakota 3
Georgia 16 Ohio 18
Hawaii 4 Oklahoma 7
Idaho 4 Oregon 7
Illinois 20 Pennsylvania 20
Indiana 11 Rhode Island 4
Iowa 6 South Carolina 9
Kansas 6 South Dakota 3
Kentucky 8 Tennessee 11
Louisiana 8 Texas 38
Maine 4 Utah 6
Maryland 10 Vermont 3
Massachusetts 11 Virginia 13
Michigan 16 Washington 12
Minnesota 10 West Virginia 5
Mississippi 6 Wisconsin 10
Missouri 10 Wyoming 3

 

Electoral votes won by Presidential Candidates in 2012

 

Presidential Candidate Party Home State Count Percentage Electoral Vote
Barack Obama (Incumbent) Democratic Illinois 65915796 51.06% 332
Mitt Romney Republican Massachusetts 60933500 47.20% 206
Gary Johnson Libertarian New Mexico 1275971 0.99% 0
Jill Stein Green Massachusetts 469627 0.36% 0
Virgil Goode Constitution Virginia 122388 0.09% 0
Roseanne Barr Peace and Freedom Hawaii 67326 0.05% 0
Rocky Anderson Justice Utah 43018 0.03% 0
Tom Hoefling America’s Iowa 40628 0.03% 0
Other 217148 0.17%
Total 129085403 1 538

The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, revised Article II, Section I of the Constitution. Electors originally cast two votes for president, and the candidate who received the second highest number of electoral votes would become Vice President. Under the Twelfth Amendment, Electors cast one vote for the presidential candidate, and one vote for the vice presidential candidate.

Electors

Electors are delegates from each state who pledge their vote in the Electoral College based on the popular votes in each district. The number of electoral votes each state has depends on its number of representatives in the House and Senate. Since each state has two Senators and at least one Representative, this means each state (and Washington DC) has a minimum of 3 electoral votes. There are currently a total of 538 electors divided among the states. The winning candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes (270) in order to win.

Selecting Electors

Electors are chosen by their political parties to represent districts in each state. Political parties normally choose loyal members of their party to act as electors. The electoral votes are administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), an independent nonpartisan group.

Though electors are pledged to vote for a particular candidate, it is possible for an elector to vote for someone else, or refuse to vote entirely. They are called “Faithless Electors,” and many states have passed laws prohibiting this practice. There have been Faithless Electors in history, though it has never made any real effect on the outcome of the election. Electors have also historically refused to cast their votes as a form of political protest.

Winner-Take-All vs. Proportional Representation

Most states follow a winner-take-all model of distributing electoral votes, meaning the majority winner receives all of the state’s electoral votes. Only two states, Maine and Nebraska, split some of their electoral votes according to the votes of each district. In each of these states, two of their electoral votes go to the overall winner, while the remaining votes go to the winner in each district. This system is called proportional representation, or the district-by-district model. Many argue that this system is more accurate and fair than the winner-take-all system.

State-wise Electoral Votes for Presidential Nominees in 2012

 

USA States WTA/CD Barack Obama Democratic Mitt Romney Republican Margin Total
State or district method Votes Voting % Votes Votes Voting % votes Votes Voting % Votes
Alabama WTA 795696 38.36% 1255925 60.55% 9 -460,229 −22.19% 2074338
Alaska WTA 122640 40.81% 164676 54.80% 3 -42,036 −13.99% 300495
Arizona WTA 1025232 44.59% 1233654 53.65% 11 -208,422 −9.06% 2299254
Arkansas WTA 394409 36.88% 647744 60.57% 6 -253,335 −23.69% 1069468
California WTA 7854285 60.24% 55 4839958 37.12% 3014327 23.12% 13038547
Colorado WTA 1323101 51.49% 9 1185243 46.13% 137858 5.37% 2569520
Connecticut WTA 905083 58.06% 7 634892 40.73% 270191 17.33% 1558960
Delaware WTA 242584 58.61% 3 165484 39.98% 77100 18.63% 413921
D.C. WTA 267070 90.91% 3 21381 7.28% 245689 83.63% 293764
Florida WTA 4237756 50.01% 29 4163447 49.13% 74309 0.88% 8474179
Georgia WTA 1773827 45.48% 2078688 53.30% 16 -304,861 −7.82% 3900050
Hawaii WTA 306658 70.55% 4 121015 27.84% 185643 42.71% 434697
Idaho WTA 212787 32.62% 420911 64.53% 4 -208,124 −31.91% 652274
Illinois WTA 3019512 57.60% 20 2135216 40.73% 884296 16.87% 5242014
Indiana WTA 1152887 43.93% 1420543 54.13% 11 -267,656 −10.20% 2624534
Iowa WTA 822544 51.99% 6 730617 46.18% 91927 5.81% 1582180
Kansas WTA 440726 37.99% 692634 59.71% 6 -251,908 −21.72% 1159971
Kentucky WTA 679370 37.80% 1087190 60.49% 8 -407,820 −22.69% 1797212
Louisiana WTA 809141 40.58% 1152262 57.78% 8 -343,121 −17.21% 1994065
Maine (at-large) WTA 401306 56.27% 2 292276 40.98% 109030 15.29% 713180
Maine, 1st CD 223035 59.57% 1 142937 38.18% 80098 21.39% 374419
Maine, 2nd CD 177998 52.94% 1 149215 44.38% 28783 8.56% 336226
Maryland WTA 1677844 61.97% 10 971869 35.90% 705975 26.08% 2707327
Massachusetts WTA 1921290 60.65% 11 1188314 37.51% 732976 23.14% 3167767
Michigan WTA 2564569 54.21% 16 2115256 44.71% 449313 9.50% 4730961
Minnesota WTA 1546167 52.65% 10 1320225 44.96% 225942 7.69% 2936561
Mississippi WTA 562949 43.79% 710746 55.29% 6 -147,797 −11.50% 1285584
Missouri WTA 1223796 44.38% 1482440 53.76% 10 -258,644 −9.38% 2757323
Montana WTA 201839 41.70% 267928 55.35% 3 -66,089 −13.65% 484048
Nebraska (at-large) WTA 302081 38.03% 475064 59.80% 2 -172,983 −21.78% 794379
Nebraska, 1st CD 108082 40.95% 152021 57.59% 1 -43,939 −16.65% 263950
Nebraska, 2nd CD 121889 45.78% 140976 52.95% 1 -19,087 −7.17% 266258
Nebraska, 3rd CD 72110 27.94% 182067 70.56% 1 -109,957 −42.61% 258046
Nevada WTA 531373 52.36% 6 463567 45.68% 67806 6.68% 1014918
New Hampshire WTA 369561 51.98% 4 329918 46.40% 39643 5.58% 710972
New Jersey WTA 2125101 58.38% 14 1477568 40.59% 647533 17.81% 3640292
New Mexico WTA 415335 52.99% 5 335788 42.84% 79547 10.15% 783758
New York WTA 4485741 63.35% 29 2490431 35.17% 1995310 28.18% 7081159
North Carolina WTA 2178391 48.35% 2270395 50.39% 15 -92,004 −2.04% 4505372
North Dakota WTA 124827 38.69% 188163 58.32% 3 -63,336 −19.63% 322627
Ohio WTA 2827710 50.67% 18 2661433 47.69% 166277 2.98% 5580840
Oklahoma WTA 443547 33.23% 891325 66.77% 7 -447,778 −33.54% 1334872
Oregon WTA 970488 54.24% 7 754175 42.15% 216313 12.09% 1789270
Pennsylvania WTA 2990274 51.97% 20 2680434 46.59% 309840 5.39% 5753670
Rhode Island WTA 279677 62.70% 4 157204 35.24% 122473 27.46% 446049
South Carolina WTA 865941 44.09% 1071645 54.56% 9 -205,704 −10.47% 1964118
South Dakota WTA 145039 39.87% 210610 57.89% 3 -65,571 −18.02% 363815
Tennessee WTA 960709 39.08% 1462330 59.48% 11 -501,621 −20.40% 2458577
Texas WTA 3308124 41.38% 4569843 57.17% 38 -1,261,719 −15.78% 7993851
Utah WTA 251813 24.75% 740600 72.79% 6 -488,787 −48.04% 1017440
Vermont WTA 199239 66.57% 3 92698 30.97% 106541 35.60% 299290
Virginia WTA 1971820 51.16% 13 1822522 47.28% 149298 3.87% 3854489
Washington WTA 1755396 56.16% 12 1290670 41.29% 464726 14.87% 3125516
West Virginia WTA 238269 35.54% 417655 62.30% 5 -179,386 −26.76% 670438
Wisconsin WTA 1620985 52.83% 10 1407966 45.89% 213019 6.94% 3068434
Wyoming WTA 69286 27.82% 170962 68.64% 3 -101,676 −40.82% 249061

WTA – Winner-takes-all
CD – Congressional district

Declaring a Winner

After the electoral votes are decided, the Electoral College cast their votes for president, based on the votes of the public. On the designated date, usually in December following the election, the Electors from each state meet in the state capital to officially declare their votes. Usually, by this time, the public is already aware of the winner of the election.

The Presidential candidate that receives more than 270 electoral votes, or just over half of the total 538, is the winner.

If the candidate does not receive a majority, then as per the Twelfth Amendment, the House of Representatives will decide the winner, with each state receiving one vote. This has happened twice in history – in the 1801 election of Thomas Jefferson, and in 1825 for John Quincy Adams’s election. In the first, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in terms of electoral votes. Both were Republicans, and Aaron Burr was running for Vice President. The second race was between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and William H. Crawford.

2016 US Presidential Elections

While three candidates are at present in the race to White House, the contest is really between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. Hillary’s rival and fellow Democrat is way behind her and is virtually out of the contests as it is an impossible task for him to muster the delegates required to win the Democratic nomination for the 2016 presidential elections.

On November 8, people in the United States will vote for the next president of the country, though they would be really voting for the Electoral College.

The electors meet in their respective states to cast votes for both the President and Vice President of the country on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. This year, the electors will be meeting on December 19, 2016.

Related posts

Why Donald Trump Won

When is the Next Presidential Election

U.S. Political Parties

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More