DO STATES HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF ELECTORS?
No.
Each state has as many electors as it has representatives and senators in Congress. There are two senators for each state, but the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives varies based on population.
California, the most populous state, has 54 electors.
The six least-populous states and the District of Columbia have only three electoral votes, the minimum number allotted to a state.
This means one electoral vote in Wyoming, the least-populous state, represents about 192,000 people, while one vote in Texas, one of the most underrepresented states, represents about 730,000 people.
All but two states use a winner-take-all approach. The candidate who wins the most votes in that state gets all of its electoral votes.
Winning a state by a large margin is the same as winning by one vote, so campaigns tend to focus on states where a small shift can deliver all its electoral votes. In the 2024 election, battleground states include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
CAN A CANDIDATE WIN THE ELECTION DESPITE LOSING THE POPULAR VOTE?
Yes.
Republican George W Bush in 2000 and Trump in 2016 both became president despite losing the popular vote. It also happened three times in the 1800s.
This is often cited by critics as the main flaw of the system.
Proponents of the electoral college say it forces candidates to seek votes from a range of states, rather than piling up support in big urban areas.