Electoral College in the 2024 presidential election (2024)

FAQs

How many electoral votes are needed to win the presidency in 2024? ›

Ballotpedia's presidential election coverage

To win the Electoral College, a candidate must receive a majority—at least 270—electoral votes.

Maine voters will choose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. The state of Maine has four electoral votes in the Electoral College, following reapportionment due to the 2020 United States census in which the state neither gained nor lost a seat.

A candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors—more than half of all electors—to win the presidential election. In most cases, a projected winner is announced on election night in November after you vote. But the actual Electoral College vote takes place in mid-December when the electors meet in their states.

Legal requirements for presidential candidates have remained the same since the year Washington accepted the presidency. As directed by the Constitution, a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older.

Although today Maine is considered somewhat Democratic in presidential elections having voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992. While the governorship remains competitive, Republicans have held both houses of the state legislature simultaneously for only two years since 1974.

Under the District Method, a State's electoral votes can be split among two or more candidates, just as a state's congressional delegation can be split among multiple political parties. As of 2022, Nebraska and Maine are the only states using the District Method of distributing electoral votes.

Where do the last 3 electoral votes come from? ›

A 1961 amendment granted the federal District of Columbia three electors. Of the current 538 electors, a simple majority of 270 or more electoral votes is required to elect the president and vice president.

Yes. With most states following the winner-take-all approach, it is possible for a candidate to win the electoral vote, but lose the nation-wide popular vote. There have been four elections in which the person elected president won the electoral vote, but lost the popular vote (1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016).

Representatives of at least two-thirds of the states must be present for the vote. If they cannot decide by March 4, then the Vice President becomes President and the person receiving the largest number of Vice President votes becomes Vice President.

The Electoral College is a process, not a place. The Founding Fathers established it in the Constitution, in part, as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.

the election of the president is an indirect process

4. To win the national election a candidate must win the majority of the electoral votes (270 or more).

Of the current 538 electors, a simple majority of 270 or more electoral votes is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves a majority there, a contingent election is held by the House of Representatives to elect the president and by the Senate to elect the vice president.

Each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives. Hawaii has four (4) electoral votes. The chosen electors gather at the Electoral College in their respective states to cast their votes for president and vice president.