IR simplified, applied, and explained
IR simplified, applied, and explained
DPolitik brings you an electoral map of the United States, updated as the votes are counted. You can see the electoral bar below, as well as other additional information in both national and state contexts. To see information on the states, simply hover or click on the desired state. The map updates automatically every minute.
What is the ‘magic number’?
Elections in the United States are not direct. Voters vote for the candidates they want in their states, and thus elect so-called ‘delegates’. Each state has a specific number of delegates in the so-called ‘electoral college’. In most states, the candidate who wins the most votes takes all the ‘delegates’. The only exceptions are Nebraska and Maine, where the delegates can be divided between different candidates.
The so-called ‘magic number’ is the minimum number of candidates for a candidate to be elected President of the United States. In this election, the number is 270 (which you see in the centre of the election bar).
This is also the reason why a candidate can win in the popular vote but lose in the electoral college. On the DP map, you see both the electoral votes and the popular votes (and the percentage).