Electoral College

Distribution of Electoral Votes

Allocation among the States

Electoral votes are allocated among the States based on the Census. Every State is allocated a number of votes equal to the number of Senators and Representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation—two votes for its Senators in the U.S. Senate plus a number of votes equal to the number of its Congressional districts.

Under the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution, the District of Columbia is allocated three electors and treated like a State for purposes of the Electoral College.

Each State (which includes the District of Columbia for the Electoral College) decides how to appoint its electors; however, they must do so according to law enacted before Election Day. Currently, all States use the popular vote results from the November general election to decide which political party chooses the individuals who are appointed.

Allocation within each State

All States, except for Maine and Nebraska, have a winner-take-all policy where the State looks only at the overall winner of the state-wide popular vote. Maine and Nebraska, however, appoint individual electors based on the winner of the popular vote within each Congressional district and then 2 "at-large" electors based on the winner of the overall state-wide popular vote.

While it is rare for Maine or Nebraska to have a split vote, each has done so twice: Nebraska in 2008, Maine in 2016, and both Maine and Nebraska in 2020.

Current allocations

The allocations below are based on the 2020 Census. They are effective for the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.

Total Electoral Votes: 538; Majority Needed to Elect: 270

Alabama - 9 votes	Kentucky - 8 votes	North Dakota - 3 votes
Alaska - 3 votes	Louisiana - 8 votes	Ohio - 17 votes
Arizona - 11 votes	Maine - 4 votes	Oklahoma - 7 votes
Arkansas - 6 votes	Maryland - 10 votes	Oregon - 8 votes
California - 54 votes	Massachusetts - 11 votes	Pennsylvania - 19 votes
Colorado - 10 votes	Michigan - 15 votes	Rhode Island - 4 votes
Connecticut - 7 votes	Minnesota - 10 votes	South Carolina - 9 votes
Delaware - 3 votes	Mississippi - 6 votes	South Dakota - 3 votes
District of Columbia - 3 votes	Missouri - 10 votes	Tennessee - 11 votes
Florida - 30 votes	Montana - 4 votes	Texas - 40 votes
Georgia - 16 votes	Nebraska - 5 votes	Utah - 6 votes
Hawaii - 4 votes	Nevada - 6 votes	Vermont - 3 votes
Idaho - 4 votes	New Hampshire - 4 votes	Virginia - 13 votes
Illinois - 19 votes	New Jersey - 14 votes	Washington - 12 votes
Indiana - 11 votes	New Mexico - 5 votes	West Virginia - 4 votes
Iowa - 6 votes	New York - 28 votes	Wisconsin - 10 votes
Kansas - 6 votes	North Carolina - 16 votes	Wyoming - 3 votes

Key Dates and Events

November 5, 2024—Election Day
The voters in each State choose electors to serve in the Electoral College.
By December 11, 2024—Electors Appointed
The State Executive of each State signs the Certificate of Ascertainment to appoint the electors chosen in the general election.
December 17, 2024—Electors vote
The electors in each State meet to select the President and Vice President of the United States.
January 6, 2025—Congress counts the vote
Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral votes (unless Congress passes a law to change the date from a Saturday or Sunday).
January 20, 2025—Inauguration Day
The President-Elect is sworn in as President of the United States.

View Electoral College timeline

The Electoral College
in my State

How does the Electoral College work in my State?

For information on the Electoral College process in your State, contact the Secretary of State of your State. To find your Secretary of State, go to the website for the National Association of Secretaries of State: www.nass.org

Who are my electors and how can I contact them?

Each state and the District of Columbia will appoint its electors after it certifies the general election results. Each will then prepare a Certificate of Ascertainment which will contain the names of the electors and the number of votes they received. Certificates of Ascertainment also may contain the party affiliation for electors. OFR posts the Certificates of Ascertainment after receiving them from the States. You’ll find the posted Certificates on our website .

However, OFR does not receive the names of the electors until receiving the Certificates of Ascertainment. To find out the names earlier, you would need to contact each State and the District of Columbia individually to request the contact information for their electors. The National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) can help you find contact information for the States.

Some States release the slates of all potential electors before the general election and some States include the names of the potential electors on the general election ballot. How each State approaches these issues is up to the State.

Whether or when a State releases contact or other information about its electors is also up to the State.

May I attend the meeting of my State’s electors to watch them vote?

Generally, each State’s electors vote at their respective State capitols. Each State determines whether or not the voting is open to the public. To find out if your State’s meeting of electors is open to the public and if so, what the process is to view the vote, contact your Governor’s Office or your Secretary of State.

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