To understand the comings and goings of the presidential candidates during the final days leading up to the November 7 election, it is important to understand the exact nature of the process by which we in the United States elect our presidents. According to the U.S. Constitution, presidents are not elected by the popular vote but rather by what is called the electoral vote . Each of the 50 states has an assigned number of electoral votes, or electors.
States have as many electors as their combined number of congressmen and senators.
Every state has 2 senators, but the number of congressmen is determined by each state's population. Thus, the most populous state, California, has 52 congressmen and 2 senators for a total of 54 electoral votes. The popular vote is not counted on the national level. The winner of each state receives all of that state's electoral votes. In order to win the election, a presidential candidate must win enough states to win at least 270 electoral votes, or one half of the total plus one.