A record number of Americans have done so voted early in the 2024 presidential electionMany millions more are expected to cast their ballots before the polls close in every state on Election Day. But as we are reminded every four years, it is not the popular vote that decides who wins the presidency – it is the outcome of the Electoral College.

There are 538 votes in the Electoral College and a majority – 270 – is needed to win. In most states it is one the winner-take-all system – whichever candidate emerges first, no matter how small the margin, gets all the votes of the state’s Electoral College. Only two states, Maine and Nebraskaallow their electoral votes to be distributed.

The race between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will likely come down to a handful states on the battlefield where voters are sharply divided. Of those, Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes at stake, with 19, followed by North Carolina and Georgia with 16 each, Michigan with 15, Arizona with 11, Wisconsin with 10 and Nevada with 6.

How many electoral college votes does each state have?

The number of Electoral College votes each state receives is equal to the total number of U.S. Senators and Representatives in Congress. This means that each state will get at least three, while states with larger populations will get more. The District of Columbia also gets three, even though it has no voting members in Congress.

States can gain or lose electoral votes as their population changes. In the congressional redistricting that followed the 2020 U.S. Census, six states gained at least one additional seat in the House of Representatives — and therefore an additional electoral vote — while seven states lost one.

Which state has the most electoral votes?

California, the nation’s most populous state, has 54 electoral votes. With a population of more than 39.5 million people, according to the 2020 census, that means California has one voter for every 732,189 residents.

Texas is next, with 40 electoral votes, followed by Florida with 30 and New York with 28.

Which state has the fewest electoral votes?

Six states with the smallest populations have three electoral votes each: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Washington, DC, also gets three. In Wyoming, where the population of about 576,850 is the smallest in the country, that amounts to one voter for every 182,283 residents.

Which state won the most electoral votes?

Texas gained two electoral votes in 2024, bringing its total to 40 in this year’s presidential race, up from 38 in the 2020 election.

Five other states – Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon – each gained one electoral vote.

Which state lost the most electoral votes?

Seven states lost an electoral vote in 2024: California, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The map below shows all the states that won or lost votes for the 2024 election.