page_title: United States Electoral College
section_title: Apportionment
hierarchical_section_title: United States Electoral College / Modern mechanics / Electors / Apportionment
caption_attribution_description: English: Chart showing 2010 census state population per electoral vote for the 50 states and Washington D.C. States are sorted from left to right based on total population, using 2010 census population from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population#States_and_territories, and 2011-2021 electoral votes per state (from apportionment following 2010 census).
context_page_description: The Electoral College is a body of electors established by the United States Constitution, which forms every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president of the United States. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and an absolute majority of at least 270 electoral votes is required to win the election. According to Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution, each state legislature determines the manner by which its state's electors are chosen. The number of each state's electors is equal to the sum of the state's membership in the Senate and House of Representatives; currently there are 100 senators and 435 representatives. Additionally, the Twenty-third Amendment, ratified in 1961, provides that the district constituting the seat of the federal government is entitled to the number it would have if it were a state, but in no case more than that of the least populous state. U.S. territories are not entitled to any electors.
  Following the nationwide presidential election day, on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, each state counts its popular votes according to that state's laws to designate presidential electors.
context_section_description: A state's number of electors equals the number of representatives plus two electors for the senators the state has in the United States Congress. The number of representatives is based on the respective populations, determined every ten years by the United States Census. Based on the 2010 census, each representative represented on average 711,000 individuals.
  Under the Twenty-third Amendment, Washington, D.C., is allocated as many electors as it would have if it were a state, but no more electors than the least populous state. Because the least populous state (Wyoming, according to the 2010 census) has three electors, D.C. cannot have more than three electors. Even if D.C. were a state, its population would entitle it to only three electors. Based on its population per electoral vote, D.C. has the second highest per capita Electoral College representation, after Wyoming.
  Currently, there are 538 electors; based on 435 representatives, 100 senators from the fifty states and three electors from Washington, D.C. The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (38), New York (29), Florida (29), Illinois (20), and Pennsylvania (20). The District of Columbia and the seven least populous states — Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming — have three electors each.
caption: Population per electoral vote for each state and Washington, D.C. (2010 census)
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