Democrat Barack Obama on Tuesday won more than 270 electoral votes out of a possible 538 to defeat Republican John McCain in the 2008 US presidential election.
The 538 members of the Electoral College, not the popular vote, actually elect the president of the United States. So when Americans cast their votes for president and vice president, they actually voting for the set of electors allotted to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Following is the latest tally of projected electoral votes for Obama and McCain.
|
Democrat Barack Obama
|
349 Electoral Votes
|
|
Republican John McCain |
163 Electoral Votes |
States where McCain is projected to have won:
|
Kentucky 8
|
Georgia 15
|
South Carolina 8
|
|
Oklahoma 7
|
Tennessee 11
|
Wyoming 3
|
| Alabama 9 |
North Dakota 3 |
West Virginia 5
|
|
Louisiana 9
|
Utah 5 |
Kansas 6
|
| Arkansas 6 |
Texas 34 |
Mississippi 6
|
| Idaho 4 |
Nebraska 5 |
South Dakota 3
|
| Arizona 10 |
Alaska 3 |
Montana 3
|
States where Obama is projected to have won:
|
Connecticut 7
|
Delaware 3
|
District of Columbia 3
|
|
Illinois 21
|
Maryland 10
|
Massachusetts 12
|
|
Vermont 3
|
New Jersey 15
|
New Hampshire 4
|
|
Pennsylvania 21
|
Wisconsin 10 |
Michigan 17
|
| New York 31 |
Rhode Island 4 |
Minnesota 10
|
| Ohio 20 |
New Mexico 5 |
Iowa 7
|
|
Virginia 13
|
California 55 |
Washington 11
|
| Oregon 7 |
Hawaii 4 |
Colorado 9
|
|
Florida 27
|
Nevada 5
|
Maine 4
|
| Indiana 11 |
|
|
In 48 states and Washington, DC, the candidate who wins the popular vote wins all of the state's electors. Nebraska and Maine have a proportional system of awarding them.
The number of electors is equal to a state's number of representatives (based on population) and senators (two per state) in the US Congress. In addition, the District of Columbia has three Electoral College Votes.
