Electoral Votes vs. the Popular Vote — What Is the Difference?

When you vote in a presidential election, your individual vote for a candidate counts toward the “popular vote” in your state. But the nationwide popular vote does not necessarily dictate who wins the presidential election.

Electoral votes cast by members of the Electoral College, however, do determine the outcome of a presidential election. There are a total of 538 electoral votes and a candidate must win at least 270 to be elected. 

The number of electors each state has is equal to the number of lawmakers the state has in Congress, with three being the minimum. Every state is given two electoral votes for their two senators, plus the number of representatives they have in the House. For example, California has two senators and 52 representatives, allotting the state 54 electoral votes. Alaska only has one representative in addition to its two senators, so the state gets three electoral votes. 

"When American voters go to the polling place on Election Day, they aren’t voting for a specific candidate,” Harvard Kennedy School explains. “Instead, they’re voting for a group of electors who have pledged to support their candidate of choice. Generally, these electors are picked by state parties. They tend to be individuals who are active in their party, such as elected officials and political activists.”

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Electoral votes typically coincide with the winner of the popular vote in each state, as nearly all operate on a “winner-take-all” policy, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine. So if a candidate wins the popular vote in a state with a big population, like Texas or California, that candidate will gain a large number of electoral votes. 

Because of how this system is set up, presidential candidates tend to spend more time campaigning in swing states with large populations — like Pennsylvania and Michigan — to gain support in an effort to secure their electoral votes.

“Ultimately, these are the states where presidential elections are decided. It’s where 75% or more of a candidate’s money is spent and on Election Day whoever wins the most swing states ends up becoming president,” John Hudak, a former Brookings expert, explained. “Swing states matter because the U.S. presidential election does not happen by a national vote or a national referendum. The presidential election is 50 individual state races and a race in the District of Columbia.”