The Electoral College Explained
Photo by A. Warner
By Staff
Oct. 30, 2024: With early voting underway in the Presidential Election, we thought it might be helpful to provide an overview of the Electoral College.
The system of "Electors" is part of the U.S. Constitution. It was put in place by the Founding Fathers, in part, "as a compromise between the election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens." (source: National Archives). "The term 'electoral college' does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to “electors,” but not to the “electoral college.” (source: National Archives).
There are a total of 538 electors in the Electoral College. Each state gets an elector for each representative it has in Congress. California has the most electoral votes (54). Texas has the second most votes (40), then Florida (30), and then New York (28). Pennsylvania and Illinois each has 19, Ohio has 17, and Georgia and North Carolina each has 16.
Here is a map of the Electoral College.
A presidential candidate must win 270 electors to win the election.
Most states have the policy that if the candidate wins the overall popular vote in the state, he or she wins all of that state's electoral votes. There are two exceptions to this rule: Maine and Nebraska. These states allocate two electoral votes for the state's winner of the popular vote and one electoral vote for the winner of the popular vote in each Congressional district (Maine has 2 Congressional districts and 4 total electoral votes; Nebraska has 3 Congressional districts and 5 total electoral votes).
In recent history, two candidates lost the popular vote but won in the Electoral College.
In 2000, George Bush narrowly lost the popular vote (50.4 million votes to Bush versus 50.9 million votes to Gore) but Bush won the Electoral College vote (271 to Bush versus 266 to Gore). George Bush became President.
In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular vote (62.9 million votes to Trump versus 65.8 million votes to Hillary Clinton) but Trump won the Electoral College vote (304 to Trump versus 227 to Clinton). Donald Trump became President.
For your interest, below are the results of the 2020 election.
In 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won both the popular vote and the electoral college vote.
The popular vote was 81.3 million to Biden/Harris versus 74.2 million votes to Trump/Pence.
The Electoral College vote was 306 electoral college votes to Biden/Harris versus 232 electoral college votes to Trump/Pence.
Government & History Directory
Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours
Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400
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