What is the Electoral College?
What is the electoral college?
US presidential elections are not decided by the popular vote (counting the number of votes obtained nationally for each candidate). Each voter votes for a state representative to allocate a vote for the president and vice president in what is called an electoral college.
Delegates
States send delegates to the electoral college according to the state vote - with 48 out of 50 using a 'winner takes all system'. Only in Maine and Nebraska are the delegates allocated proportionally.
The number of delegates sent to the electoral college is allocated according to the population of the state. Thus the largest delegations come from the most populous states: New York, California and Texas.