Decoding US presidential election

In the United States, a candidate becomes president not by winning a majority of the national popular vote but through a system called the Electoral College, which allots electoral votes to the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on their population. Here are some of the rules:

What is Electoral College?

When voters go to the polls to pick a president, they usually only see the names of the presidential and vice presidential candidates.

However, voters are actually voting for a group or slate of electors.

Nationally, there are a total of 538 electoral votes, or electors, meaning a candidate needs to secure 270 to win.

Electors are typically party loyalists who pledge to support the candidate who gets the most votes in their state. Each elector represents one vote in the Electoral College.

Do states have the same number of electors?

No. Each state has as many electors as it has representatives and senators in Congress. There are two senators for each state, but the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives varies based on population. California, the most populous state, has 54 electors.

The six least-populous states and the District of Columbia have only three electoral votes, the minimum number allotted to a state.