To understand the American system of election, you might have to know, that an American president is not chosen directly by the people. Instead, an Electoral College is used. In a close election, the importance of the College grows.
So, how does the Electoral College work?
Each state has a number of electors in the Electoral College equal to the total of its US senators (always two) and its representatives, which are determined by the size of the state's population. Technically, Americans vote for the electors not the candidate.
California, the most populous state, has 55 electoral votes. A few small states and the District of Columbia have only three.
There are 538 electors in the College. In all but two states, Maine and Nebraska, the College works on a winner-takes-all basis. The winner of the popular vote in a state gets all the Electoral College votes in that state.
To become president, a candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes. The winning candidate does not need to win the national popular vote.
John Mc Cain got 173 votes and lost the presidental election of 2008. If you want to know more about him, read our next blog!
