How many Electoral College votes are at stake in the 7 swing states tonight?
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are fighting tonight to get to a magic number: 270.
That’s the number of Electoral College votes needed, out of 538, to win the presidency.
Most pundits think that 43 states plus D.C., and their electoral votes, are all but decided before polls even close. That leaves seven swing states that are likely to decide the election.
So how many Electoral College votes are up for grabs in each of those states?
The number of Electoral College votes a state gets matches their total members of Congress — two senators and however many House members, which is based on population in the most recent Census. In all states except Maine and Nebraska, whoever wins the state’s popular vote gets all of that state’s Electoral College votes.
The seven states widely considered to be close contests tonight are: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona. Of those, Pennsylvania has the most electoral votes and Nevada the fewest.
Here’s the breakdown by state:
- Pennsylvania: 19 electoral votes
- North Carolina: 16
- Georgia: 16
- Michigan: 15
- Arizona: 11
- Wisconsin: 10
- Nevada: 6
That’s a total of 93 electoral votes out of the 538, meaning 445 electoral votes come from states considered relatively safe for one candidate or the other.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 5:12 PM with the headline "How many Electoral College votes are at stake in the 7 swing states tonight?."