The US Constitution is revered, but let’s not pretend it’s perfect. Remember, this is the document that called a slave 3/5 of a person and forgot to give women the right to vote. It is also the piece of paper that created the mighty quirky Electoral College, solely for the purpose of voting for president (and vice president).
As a reminder, under the Electoral College system, each state is assigned a certain number of electors equal to its number of senators (two) plus its number of representatives in the House of Representatives, the latter being dependent on the population of the state. As such, the least populated states end up with three electoral votes, and a behemoth like California gets 54.
In 1961, the 23rd Amendment to the US Constitution granted Washington, DC, three electoral votes, thereby increasing the number of voting entities to 51 and the total number of electors to 538. To win a presidential election, a candidate needs a simple majority, i.e. 270.
In most states, the winner of the popular vote within the state is assigned all the electors, also known as winner-take-all. In two states—Maine and Nebraska—the winner of the popular vote gets two electoral votes, but the remaining are split up based on the winner of individual Congressional districts.
Anyway, here’s the sortable table you need to put it all together.
| State/District | 2020 Population (in millions) | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 5.0 | 9 |
| Alaska | 0.73 | 3 |
| Arizona | 7.1 | 11 |
| Arkansas | 3.0 | 6 |
| California | 39.5 | 54 |
| Colorado | 5.7 | 10 |
| Connecticut | 3.6 | 7 |
| Delaware | 0.98 | 3 |
| Florida | 21.5 | 30 |
| Georgia | 10.7 | 16 |
| Hawaii | 1.4 | 4 |
| Idaho | 1.8 | 4 |
| Illinois | 12.8 | 19 |
| Indiana | 6.7 | 11 |
| Iowa | 3.1 | 6 |
| Kansas | 2.9 | 6 |
| Kentucky | 4.5 | 8 |
| Louisiana | 4.6 | 8 |
| Maine | 1.3 | 4 |
| Maryland | 6.1 | 10 |
| Massachusetts | 7.0 | 11 |
| Michigan | 10.0 | 15 |
| Minnesota | 5.7 | 10 |
| Mississippi | 2.9 | 6 |
| Missouri | 6.1 | 10 |
| Montana | 1.0 | 4 |
| Nebraska | 1.9 | 5 |
| Nevada | 3.1 | 6 |
| New Hampshire | 1.3 | 4 |
| New Jersey | 9.2 | 14 |
| New Mexico | 2.1 | 5 |
| New York | 20.2 | 28 |
| North Carolina | 10.4 | 16 |
| North Dakota | 0.77 | 3 |
| Ohio | 11.7 | 17 |
| Oklahoma | 3.9 | 7 |
| Oregon | 4.2 | 8 |
| Pennsylvania | 13.0 | 19 |
| Rhode Island | 1.0 | 4 |
| South Carolina | 5.1 | 9 |
| South Dakota | 0.88 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 6.9 | 11 |
| Texas | 29.1 | 40 |
| Utah | 3.2 | 6 |
| Vermont | 0.64 | 3 |
| Virginia | 8.6 | 13 |
| Washington | 7.7 | 12 |
| Washington, DC | 0.68 | 3 |
| West Virginia | 1.7 | 4 |
| Wisconsin | 5.8 | 10 |
| Wyoming | 0.57 | 3 |
Thank you, Founding Fathers, for giving me material for a blog post.
6 Responses
Thank you for writing this very informative article. Question – so what happens to the person who wins by the most popular votes?
Under this quirky system, a candidate can win the overall popular vote but still lose in the Electoral College, which is the only thing that matters. This has happened several times, including in 2000 and 2016.
Extremely informative article. Did not know that women did not have right to vote and that black was considered only 3/5th of a person.
Thank you. Yes, the US Constitution has passed the test of time, but it was far from a perfect document.
just like to mention.
senate is very powerful entitled section of Govt. yet, 20% of population elects 50 (50%) senators.
for example, Rhode island , Alaska each have 2senators. California, Texas, N.Y each have 2 senators.
may be there is a method in madness?!
This is true! I guess it’s balanced somewhat by the population-based House of Representatives. But you’re right—the Senate gives disproportionate power to small states.