How is the electoral college different from the popular vote?

Answer 1

Every state is assigned a certain number of electoral votes, which is based on its population. For example, California has 55 while Wyoming has only 3. In most cases the candidate who receives the most votes from each state will receive all of that state's electoral votes (rather than the percentage won in that state).

Maine and Nebraska have taken a slightly different approach in recent years. These states allocate two Electoral Votes to the popular vote winner, and then one each to the popular vote winner in each Congressional district (2 in Maine, 3 in Nebraska) in their state. This creates multiple popular vote contests in these states, which could lead to a split Electoral Vote. Note that since these rules were adapted, Maine has never split its Electoral Votes. However, in 2008, Nebraska did for the first time, as Barack Obama won the 2nd Congressional District (Omaha and its suburbs), gaining a Democratic Electoral Vote in Nebraska for the first time since 1964.

Answer 2

It has to do with the fact that the electoral appointments of most states do not reflect the popular vote. In 48 of the 50 states and in D.C., 100% of the electoral votes go to one pair of candidates. It does not matter what percentage of the popular vote they received, and they don't even need the votes of more than half of the people who voted in the state, as long as they received more popular votes than anyone else.