A record number of Americans have voted early in the 2024 presidential election, and many millions more are expected to cast their ballots before the polls close in each state on Election Day. But as we’re reminded every four years, it’s not the popular vote that decides who wins the presidency — it’s the outcome of the Electoral College.

There are 538 votes in the Electoral College and it takes a majority — 270 — to win. In most states, it’s a winner-take-all system — whichever candidate comes out ahead, no matter how slim the margin, gets all of the state’s Electoral College votes. Only two states, Maine and Nebraska, allow their electoral votes to be split.

The race between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will likely come down to a handful of battleground states where voters are closely divided. Of those, Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes at stake, with 19, followed by North Carolina and Georgia with 16 each, Michigan with 15, Arizona with 11, Wisconsin with 10, and Nevada with 6.

How many Electoral College votes does each state have?

The number of Electoral College votes each state gets is equal to its total number of U.S. senators and representatives in Congress. This means each state gets at least three, while states with larger populations get more. The District of Columbia also gets three, although it has no voting members in Congress.

States may gain or lose electoral votes as the population shifts. In the congressional redistricting that followed the 2020 U.S. Census, six states picked up at least one additional House seat — and thus an extra electoral vote — while seven states lost one.

Which state has the most electoral votes?

California, the most populous state in the nation, has 54 electoral votes. With a population of over 39.5 million people, according to the 2020 Census, that means California has one elector for every 732,189 residents.

Texas is next, with 40 electoral votes, followed by Florida with 30 and New York with 28.

Which state has the least electoral votes?

Six states with the smallest populations have three electoral votes each: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., also gets three. In Wyoming, whose population of about 576,850 is the nation’s smallest, that works out to one elector for every 182,283 residents. 

Which state has gained the most electoral votes?

Texas gained two electoral votes in 2024, giving it a total of 40 in this year’s presidential race, up from 38 in the 2020 election.

Five other states — Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon — gained one electoral vote each.

Which state has lost the most electoral votes?

 Seven states lost an electoral vote in 2024: California, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

The map below shows all the states that gained or lost Electoral College votes for the 2024 election.