The U.S. is the only country to have a system where voters select a body of electors with the sole function of choosing the president.
The blue and red maps have become a staple of Election Day coverage, but how are Electoral College votes allocated?
The Electoral College is how the presidency of the United States is actually decided, with 538 total votes being cast as a representation of all 50 states, along with the District of Columbia.
Under a Constitutionally-set formula, a state’s Electoral College votes are determined by the number of Congressional delegation members they have, plus their two senators.
As a result, each state gets a minimum of three Electoral College votes, as does the District of Columbia.
California has the most Electoral College votes of any state with 54, followed by Texas’ 40 and Florida’s 30. New York has 28 Electoral College votes, while Illinois and Pennsylvania each receive 19.
A candidate must receive at least 270 Electoral College votes to be declared the winner of the presidential election.
Here is a full list:
Local
Alabama: 9
Alaska: 3
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Arizona: 11
Arkansas: 6
California: 54
Colorado: 10
Connecticut: 7
Delaware: 3
Florida: 30
Georgia: 16
Hawaii: 4
Idaho: 4
Illinois: 19
Indiana: 11
Iowa: 6
Kansas: 6
Kentucky: 8
Louisiana: 8
Maine: 4
Maryland: 10
Massachusetts: 11
Michigan: 15
Minnesota: 10
Mississippi: 6
Missouri: 10
Montana: 4
Nebraska: 5
Nevada: 6
New Hampshire: 4
New Jersey: 14
New Mexico: 5
New York: 28
North Carolina: 16
North Dakota: 3
Ohio: 17
Oklahoma: 7
Oregon: 8
Pennsylvania: 19
Rhode island: 4
South Carolina: 9
South Dakota: 3
Tennessee: 11
Texas: 40
Utah: 6
Vermont: 3
Virginia: 13
Washington: 12
Washington, D.C.: 3
West Virginia: 4
Wisconsin: 10
Wyoming: 3
You can follow the live election results via NBC News and the NBC Chicago app.
