Electoral College votes are different for 13 states in 2024. Here's where and why

The Electoral College consists of 538 electoral votes, which are distributed amongst each state based on the number of congressional members. Washington, D.C. also has three electoral votes. A candidate needs to receive at least 270 electoral votes to win the U.S. presidency.

The number of electoral votes each state has is determined by adding the number of the U.S. House of Representatives members and their two U.S. Senators. A state's number of congressional districts is based on the latest U.S. Census, which was conducted in 2020.

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The U.S. Census findings are used through The Method of Equal Proportions to determine the number of congressional districts each state will have. Thirteen states have either gained or lost electoral votes for the upcoming presidential election on Nov. 5.

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States that lost votes

California, Illinois, and New York lost one electoral vote each in 2020. Michigan and Pennsylvania, both of which voted for former president Donald Trump in 2016 but flipped for President Joe Biden in 2020, also lost one vote each.

Ohio and West Virginia also both lost one vote.

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States that gained votes

Florida, Montana and North Carolina all gained one electoral vote. All three states voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020. Texas earned an additional two votes.

Colorado and Oregon, consistently blue states, both gained one electoral vote.

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Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Electoral College changes will impact votes for 13 states in 2024