Each state has electoral votes equal to the total of the 2 representative the state has in the U.S. Senate plus the number of representative the state has in the House of Representatives. Since every state has two senators and at least one representative to the House, every state has at least 3 electoral votes.
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States have the same number of electoral votes as they have congresspeople (senators and representatives).
Since each state is allowed two Senators and at least one representative in the House, the minimum number of electoral votes any state can have is 3. There are several states with only 3 electoral votes (currently Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, both North and South Dakota, and Vermont).
The District of Columbia also has three electoral votes (despite not having any voting members in Congress).
The lowest amount of electoral votes a state can have is three. Every state gets two Senators and House of Reprentatives based on population.
Although each state holds presidential elections every 4 years, the actual "election" is held about a month later by the "Electoral College". The results from the "General Election" are generally transferred through the Electoral College, but the "Delegates" are not required to vote as their state did. The candidate with 270 Electoral Votes becomes president. Although the state by state elections are based on "Popular Vote", the actual election is solely based on the Electoral College. I.E. 2000, Gore v. Bush (Gore won the National Popular Vote while G. W. Bush won the Electoral Vote).
Most states appoint their electors on a winner-take-all basis, based on the statewide popular vote on Election Day. Maine and Nebraska are the only two current exceptions. Maine and Nebraska distribute their electoral votes proportionally, with two at-large electors representing the statewide winning presidential and vice-presidential candidates and one elector each representing the winners from each of their Congressional districts.
How a state allocates its electoral votes is up to that state. Most states allocate all electoral votes to the candidate with more votes than any other candidate in that state; this is called a plurality. Note, however, that some states require the electors to cast their ballots in the Electoral College for the winner of the popular vote, but others have no such requirement.
The District of Columbia and 48 U.S. states (all except Maine and Nebraska) utilize a winner-takes-all rule for the Electoral College. In a winner-take-all state, all of the state's Electoral votes go to whichever candidate receives a majority of the popular vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate). Maine and Nebraska use the "congressional district method", selecting one elector within each congressional district by popular vote and awarding two electors by a statewide popular vote.
The 3 major defects in the electoral College system are 1. the winner of the popular vote is not guarenteed the presidency 2. electors are not required to vote in accord with the popular vote 3. any election might have to be decided in the House of Reps.