Electoral College Explorer

The Electoral College has 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. National Archives

Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution gives each state as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress, appointed in the way its legislature directs. That works out to two electoral votes for a state’s senators plus one for each of its congressional districts. National ArchivesNational Archives

How the Lookup Works

• The National Archives’ current allocation is based on the 2020 Census and applies to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections. National Archives
• Electoral votes are divided among the states based on the census. National Archives

The 2020 comparison reads the National Archives’ 2020 results table, and each result names the exceptions that can change how a state’s votes are cast.

How Electoral Votes Are Divided

• Electoral votes are divided among the states based on the census. National Archives
• The National Archives’ current allocation is based on the 2020 Census and applies to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections. National Archives
• The 23rd Amendment gives the District of Columbia the electors it would have if it were a state, but never more than the least populous state has. National Archives
• Under the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia has three electors and is treated like a state for the Electoral College. National Archives
• Under the 23rd Amendment, the District appoints its electors in the manner Congress directs. National Archives
• Residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa can’t vote for president unless their official residence is in a state or the District of Columbia. National Archives

Winner-Take-All, and the Two Exceptions

• A vote for a presidential candidate is a vote for that candidate’s electors. National Archives
• Currently, every state uses the November popular vote to decide which party chooses its electors. National Archives
• Every state except Maine and Nebraska is winner-take-all: the winner of the statewide popular vote gets all its electoral votes. National Archives
• A candidate who wins the most votes in a winner-take-all state takes all its electoral votes, even with less than 50% of the popular vote. National Archives
• The District of Columbia is winner-take-all too. National Archives
• Maine and Nebraska give one electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district and two at-large votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote. National Archives
• Nebraska split its electoral votes in 2008, Maine in 2016, and both in 2020. Both split again in 2024, each for the third time since adopting the district system. National ArchivesNational Archives

What It Takes to Win

• The Electoral College has 538 electors, and a majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the president. National Archives
• Under the 12th Amendment, the candidate with the most electoral votes for president wins only if that number is a majority of all the electors appointed. National Archives
• If no candidate wins a majority, the House of Representatives picks the president from the top three, and each state’s delegation casts one vote. National Archives
• Because the District of Columbia is not a state, it has no vote if the House has to pick the president. National Archives

The National Popular Vote Compact

• Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, member states would award all their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the most popular votes nationwide, whatever the result in their own states. The compact works through the Electoral College rather than ending it: each member state would still appoint electors, choosing the slate nominated in that state in association with the national popular vote winner. The agreement ends if the Electoral College is abolished. Congressional Research ServiceCode of Virginia
• The compact takes effect only when its members together hold a majority of the Electoral College, 270 electoral votes. Congressional Research Service
• As of May 2024, 17 states and the District of Columbia had agreed to join the compact, according to National Conference of State Legislatures figures cited by the Congressional Research Service. Together they held 209 electoral votes, 61 short of 270. That count predates Virginia’s 2026 enactment and is not a current total. For recent status, the Congressional Research Service points to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Congressional Research ServiceCode of VirginiaCongressional Research Service
• Virginia enacted the compact in 2026. Virginia has 13 electoral votes. Code of VirginiaNational Archives
• A May 5, 2026, Congressional Research Service report treats the compact as not yet in effect: it calls the compact an alternative to the current system that would come into effect only if states controlling an Electoral College majority agreed to participate. Congressional Research Service

Faithless Electors and State Laws

• No constitutional provision or federal law requires electors to vote according to their state’s popular vote. National Archives
• Some states do require it, and some state laws let a “faithless elector” who breaks the pledge be fined, or disqualified and replaced. National Archives
• The Supreme Court decided in 2020 that states can set requirements on how electors vote. National Archives
• More than 99% of electors in the nation’s history have voted as pledged. National Archives
• Each state, and the District of Columbia, decides how to appoint its electors, but it must do so under a law enacted before Election Day. National Archives

Where to Ask

• In most states, the secretary of state is the chief election official, responsible for state elections, including the presidential election. National Archives

Related GovFacts Articles

• How the Electoral College Works: The Guide to America’s Presidential Election System
• How Congressional Seats Are Divided Among the States
• The Electoral College vs. Popular Vote: How America Elects Its President
• Why Some States Decide Presidential Elections (And Others Don’t)