Electoral Votes facts

While investigating facts about Electoral Votes By State and Electoral Votes Per State, I found out little known, but curios details like:

Originally (up until 1804) electors could cast two votes for two different U.S. candidates for President, and the first runner-up presidential candidate became Vice President to guard against electoral gamesmanship.

how electoral votes work?

Because of the electoral college, a presidential candidate can win with only 23% of the popular vote.

What state has the most electoral votes?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what is electoral college votes. Here are 50 of the best facts about Electoral Votes By State 2020 and Electoral Votes By State 2016 I managed to collect.

what states have the most electoral votes?

In North Korea, since every political candidate is chosen by the ruling party, there is only one name on a ballot. A voter may cross off the candidate's name to vote against him, but must do so with a red pen next to the ballot box in sight of electoral officials.
By taking advantage of the electoral college, a US presidential candidate can win with only 22% of the popular vote
In the USA, a candidate could win the electoral college while winning only about 22% of the nationwide popular vote.
Every Canadian citizen in Canada can vote, including convicts and persons diagnosed with mental illness, with one exception - the Chief Electoral Officer.
James Monroe, the fifth President, received every Electoral College vote except one. The holdout: a New Hampshire delegate who wanted to preserve the legacy of George Washington, the first and only President elected unanimously by the Electoral College.
Andrew Jackson lost the presidency in 1824 despite winning both the popular and electoral vote.
The the Compromise of 1877, an unwritten deal that settled the controversial and disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election. The deal gave (R) Rutherford B. Hayes the last 20 electoral votes to win the election as long as he removed federal troops from the South
In the 1936 Presidential Election, Franklin D. Roosevelt won 523 electoral votes, while his opponent Alf Landon only won 8.
George Washington is the only U.S. president to have received 100% of the electoral votes.
There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their States.

electoral votes facts — What are electoral votes based on?

Electoral Votes data charts

For your convenience take a look at Electoral Votes figures with stats and charts presented as graphic.

electoral votes fact data chart about Votes per Person in US Electoral College System — Votes per Person in US Electoral College System

electoral votes fact data chart about US Electoral College "Single Vote Power" — US Electoral College "Single Vote Power"

Why electoral votes are important?

You can easily fact check why are there 538 electoral votes by examining the linked well-known sources.

George Washington is the only president to have received 100 percent of the electoral votes

If the Electors of the Holy Roman Emperor did not vote with in 30 days, they were only allowed to eat bread and water. - source

Gerald Ford is the only person to become the President without having been previously voted into either the presidential or vice presidential office by the Electoral College. - source

The National Popular Vote Interstate Contract, an agreement by 10 states to give all their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote; this would ensure that the popular vote winner is always elected President.

James K. Polk (often called the "least known consequential president") advocated for the abolishment of the Electoral college, instead believing the POTUS should be elected by popular vote. - source

When did electoral votes begin?

Ronald Reagan holds the record for the most electoral votes with 525 out of 538 in the 1984 election

How electoral votes are determined?

There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states (with the exception of some states)

The Every Vote Counts Amendment is a proposed Amendment that abolishes the electoral college for presidential elections

Prisoners in Germany can vote unless they were convicted of electoral fraud

In the 1860 presidential election Abraham Lincoln only won 39.8% of the popular vote, but won a plurality and the majority of the electoral votes as there were three other major candidates.

On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama wins the United States Presidential election. He won with 66.7 million popular votes and 365 electoral votes.

Electoral votes infographics

Beautiful visual representation of Electoral Votes numbers and stats to get perspecive of the whole story.

electoral votes fact infographic about Taxation with (varying levels of) Representation - Federal I — Taxation with (varying levels of) Representation - Federal Income Tax Paid per Electoral Vote

electoral votes fact infographic about Electorate Population of every UK Constituency (how much you — Electorate Population of every UK Constituency (how much your vote matters)

When are the electoral votes counted in 2021?

The Electoral Commission voted to give all the disputed electoral votes to Hayes, giving him the presidency by one vote - 185-184.

A federal Supreme Court judge can only be removed from their position by retirement, death, or by impeachment. Because they do not need to be worried about their "popularity" they can base court decisions on law and justice and not winning electoral votes.

In the USA your state's electoral votes are actually assigned by a designated elector, and 21 out of 50 states have no law against the elector voting differently than their state's majority.

George Wallace ran as a third party candidate in 1968, won 46 electoral votes, and was the last third party candidate to carry a state.

Those "maps" that skew geography to better represent other relevant data (e.g. electoral college votes per state) are called "cartograms".

How electoral votes are allocated to states?

It's possible to become president of the united states with only 22% of the popular vote thanks to the electoral college.

If no presidential candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives chooses the president.

Guam, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, has correctly chosen the winner of every presidential election since 1980 (except for in 1996, when a typhoon hit Guam). However, votes from Guam don't count, as the island has no representation in the Electoral College.

James Monroe - 5th US President - Ran for reelection unopposed in 1820 with 1 electoral vote short of a unanimous decision.

The United States presidential election of 1876 is the only one in which a candidate received a majority of the popular vote, not merely a plurality, and still lost the electoral vote

If no US presidential candidate wins an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College, the president is decided by a vote in the House of Representatives

A faithless elector is a member of the Electoral College who does not vote for the presidential or vice presidential candidate for whom he or she had pledged to vote. And there has been 157 cases where a state's electoral vote did not go to the candidate that the state's populace voted for.

Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote in the 1876 U.S. Presidential election but lost the election by one electoral vote.

Vice President Gore, as VP, "was required to preside over his own Electoral College defeat (by five votes)". He also denied objections to the vote-count that were raised (that would have benefited his candidacy), as they didn't have the required minimum support.

During the 1876 presidential election, after an Oregon elector was deemed inadmissible because he held elected office, he was replaced by an elector who voted for Democrat candidate Samuel Tilden, although future president Rutherford B. Hayes won the majority of votes in the state.

Early American political candidates would use alcohol to essentially buy votes from the electorate

Washington DC contributes more in federal taxes than 19 states, yet citizens only have one nonvoting representative in the House, none in Senate, and had no electoral votes until 1961. Some say it is "Taxation without Representation" and the UN has cited the US on the issue since 2006.

Although citizens in the Roman Republic could technically vote for Senate positions, their votes were grouped into electoral blocs by net worth. Wealthier blocs had more power and voted earlier, so a tiny group could dominate the election.

Andrew Jackson was the very first candidate to win the Popular Vote but lost the Electoral Vote in a United States presidential election (1824).

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about Electoral Votes. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is Electoral Votes so important!