Hillary Clinton secured more votes from individuals nationwide than Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. However, Trump still won the presidency. This outcome was due to the Electoral College—a unique feature of the U.S. electoral system that determines the winner based on electoral votes rather than the direct popular vote. Here’s how the Electoral College works and why it can yield results that don’t always reflect the popular vote.
The popular vote is the total count of votes cast by voters across the entire country. It directly reflects each voter’s choice and gives equal weight to every individual’s vote. While Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, this did not assure her victory in the presidential race, as the U.S. elects its president through the Electoral College rather than by the popular vote alone.
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. Each U.S. state has a designated number of electors based on its population size. For example, populous California has 55 electoral votes, whereas Wyoming, with a smaller population, has just three electoral votes.
To become president, a candidate needs a majority of 270 out of the 538 electoral votes.
When Americans vote in a presidential election, they aren’t directly voting for a candidate. Instead, they are selecting a slate of electors who will vote on their behalf in the Electoral College. These electors are expected to support the candidate who won the popular vote in their state.
Generally, if a candidate wins the majority of votes in a state, they receive all of that state’s electoral votes. For instance, Joe Biden won the popular vote in California in 2020, securing all of California’s 55 electoral votes. However, two states—Maine and Nebraska—allow for a split of electoral votes rather than an all-or-nothing approach.
A candidate can win the national popular vote yet lose in the Electoral College if they lose in states with many electoral votes and secure narrow wins in states with fewer votes. In 2016, Trump won narrowly in several states with smaller electoral counts, like Wisconsin (10 electoral votes) and Michigan (16 electoral votes), enabling him to reach the required 270 electoral votes despite trailing in the popular vote.
The Electoral College was originally established to balance power between states with large and small populations. However, in today’s elections, it means that some states—particularly “swing states” with close race outcomes—receive more attention, as they can sway the final result. This leads to concerns that candidates prioritize these states over others, which some critics argue does not represent the overall will of the voters across the country.
