Popular votes are cast by the millions of Americans who go to the polls on Election Day. Electoral votes are cast by just 538 people representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. They make up a body called the Electoral College. Here's how the Electoral College works. Each state has as many Electors as it has Senators and Representatives in Congress.
Every state has two Senators.
The number of Representatives each has is based on the state's population. As our chart shows, California has the most electoral votes. No one can tell how many of the 26 million people living there will go to the polls on November 5. In our electoral system, the candidate who receives the most popular votes wins that state. And the candidate who wins at least 270 electoral votes becomes President.