Just how many people elect the president of the United States? The answer may surprise you.  Consider the 2000 presidential elections. Even though more than 100 million people voted in the election, only a small portion of those votes in fact were decisive. Indeed the results would have been exactly the same even if nearly 80 million of those voters would have stayed home.

Here’s what we mean:

• Total number of votes cast nationwide in Presidential elections:
• 105,396,641 in 2000
• 131,338,626 in 2008
• Total number of votes cast for the winner in their states won:
• 26,353,058 in 30 states for George W. Bush
• 53,363,321 in 29 states (including DC) for Barack Obama
• Minimum number of votes the winner needed in order to win in those same states:
• 21,835,615 in 30 states for George W. Bush
• 39,908,351 in 29 states (including DC) for Barack Obama
• Total number of votes that did not factor in determining the winner of the president in their respective years:
• To win the Electoral College in 2000, Bush needed only 21,835,615 votes out of a total of 105,396,641 votes.
• To win the Electoral College in 2008, Obama needed only 39,908,351 votes out of a total of 131,338,626 votes.
• Percentage of votes that did not factor in determining the winner in their respective years:
• 79.28% in 2000
• 70.39% in 2008

Electoral College Table of Contents


 

July 13th 2009
Albatross of U.S. democracy
Indianapolis Star

FairVote research is cited in support of the National Popular Vote plan in Indiana, because "every vote cast for president should be equally important and equally coveted, whether it originates in California, Connecticut or Crawfordsville."

July 9th 2009
Winner-take-all can elect a second-place president
San Diego Union-Tribune

The founder of National Popular Vote lays out the shortcomings and injustices of the Electoral College system, and shows why the National Popular Vote plan is the right solution.

May 17th 2009
Why states should adopt the National Popular Vote plan for president
San Diego Union-Tribune

FairVote's Rob Richie writes that the Electoral College deepens political inequality, and explains why the National Popular Vote plan is our best opportunity to ensure that every vote for president is equally valued.

May 14th 2009
Let's Make Every Vote Count
The Nation

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation magazine, highlights FairVote's research in an important piece on the "broad support" growing in the states for the National Popular Vote plan to elect the president.

May 13th 2009
Representative Democracy: Two Steps Forward
The Daily Herald

The executive director of the Economic Opportunity Institute heralds the passage of the National Popular Vote bill in Washington state.

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