US Electoral Vote Calculator
The US Electoral College has 538 electors: 435 from House seats, 100 from Senators, and 3 for the District of Columbia under the 23rd Amendment. A candidate needs a majority of 270 to win the presidency. This calculator tallies the electoral votes you assign to two candidates, shows the running total against the 538 total, reports how many each still needs to reach 270, and names the projected winner. Enter the electoral votes each candidate has secured to see the result.
Electoral vote tally formula
Assigned = Candidate A + Candidate B Uncalled = total electors - assigned A needs = max(0, win threshold - Candidate A) B needs = max(0, win threshold - Candidate B) Winner = first candidate to reach the win threshold
With 538 electors, 270 is the majority. Maine and Nebraska can split, so enter their district results in the totals.
Worked example
Candidate A 226 and Candidate B 232 gives 458 assigned, 80 uncalled. A needs 44 more, B needs 38 more. Neither has reached 270, so the result is still pending.
Electoral votes: frequently asked questions
How many electoral votes are there?
There are 538 electors in the Electoral College. This equals 435 members of the House of Representatives plus 100 Senators plus 3 electors for the District of Columbia, which was granted electors by the 23rd Amendment. A candidate needs a majority, 270 electoral votes, to win the presidency.
Why is 270 the magic number?
A majority of 538 is 270. The 12th Amendment requires a candidate to receive a majority of the whole number of electors appointed to be elected President. With 538 total electors, 270 is the smallest majority. If no candidate reaches 270, the election goes to the House of Representatives in a contingent election.
How are electoral votes distributed among states?
Each state gets electors equal to its total congressional delegation: its number of House seats (based on population from the census) plus its two Senators. So every state has at least 3. House seats are reapportioned after each decennial census, which can shift a state's electoral vote count. The District of Columbia has 3.
Do Maine and Nebraska split their votes?
Yes. Maine and Nebraska use the congressional district method: two electors go to the statewide winner and one elector goes to the winner of each congressional district. All other states and the District of Columbia award all of their electors to the statewide winner (winner-take-all). Enter the resulting electoral vote totals into this calculator.
Official sources
- National Archives: About the Electoral College.
- National Archives: Distribution of Electoral Votes.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 19 June 2026. See our methodology.