A guide to America's electoral college system

October 27, 2004

The winner of the US presidential race is usually known just hours after the nation goes to the polls.

That happens again on November 2, but it is not until mid-December that the president of the United States is officially elected.

That's because of a unique electoral college system followed by America.

The system's origins stretch right back to the very beginnings of the United States, when it won independence from Britain, and has a lot to do with the traditions, laws and size of its 50 individual states.

People go to the polls and vote in America in a similar way to how they do in other democracies.

Ballots are then counted by each individual state to see which candidate has the most.

Then the electoral college system kicks in.

Each state is allotted a different number of electoral college votes, linked to number of members it returns to the US Congress, which in turn is based on population.

In all, 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs.

The most populous state, California, has the most votes, 55. Other states with big populations like New York and Florida have 31 and 27 respectively.

The least populated states, Montana, Vermont and Alaska, for example, have just three votes each.

Everywhere except in Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who wins the most votes in the state is given all that state's electoral college votes.

Electoral college voters are appointed by each state and meet for this formal process in mid-December - and that is when the president is officially "elected".

To win the White House, a candidate must get at least a simple majority, that is, 270 electoral college votes of the 538 available.

The system was established by America's founding fathers more than two centuries ago to ensure individual states could maintain control over who was allowed to vote.

But critics say the system nowadays can distort the vote.

In 1996 Bill Clinton attracted 49 per cent of the popular vote. But he won 70 per cent, that is 379, of the electoral college votes.

His challenger Bob Dole had 41 per cent of the popular vote but just 30 per cent of the electoral college votes.

The system is why certain states are targeted more than other by candidates.

The vote in Florida was crucial last time in 2000. Democrat Al Gore, then vice-president, won a narrow majority in the overall popular vote across the country.

But Republican George Bush became president after a US Supreme Court challenge settled a messy and disputed ballot count in Florida, which then delivered all its electoral college votes to him giving his a majority.

In this campaign Mr Bush has visited Florida several times - promising aid after each of four hurricanes which slammed into it in recent months.

Cynics will argue that he would not have invested so much valuable campaign time in the sunshine state if it did not have so many college voters.

States and their electoral college votes:

Alabama 9
Alaska 3
Arizona 10
Arkansas 6
California 55
Colorado 9
Connecticut 7
Delaware 3
District Of Columbia 3
Florida 27
Georgia 15
Hawaii 4
Idaho 4
Illinois 21
Indiana 11
Iowa 7
Kansas 6
Kentucky 8
Louisiana 9
Maine 4
Maryland 10
Massachusetts 12
Michigan 17
Minnesota 10
Mississippi 6
Missouri 11
Montana 3
Nebraska 5
Nevada 5
New Hampshire 4
New Jersey 15
New Mexico 5
New York 31
North Carolina 15
North Dakota 3
Ohio 20
Oklahoma 7
Oregon 7
Pennsylvania 21
Rhode Island 4
South Carolina 8
South Dakota 3
Tennessee 11
Texas 34
Utah 5
Vermont 3
Virginia 13
Washington 11
West Virginia 5
Wisconsin 10
Wyoming 3


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