Presidential Elections

The Electoral College

What is electoral reapportionment?

Each state’s electoral votes are equal to the combined numerical total of its House of Representatives delegation (currently ranging from one to fifty-three, depending on population) and Senate membership (two for each state). The number of electoral votes per state, based on the 2000 census, ranges from three to fifty-five. These totals are adjusted following each census, taken every ten years, in a process called reappor-tionment. This process reallocates the number of members of the House of Representatives to reflect changing rates of population growth or decline among the states. Thus, a state may gain or lose electors following census reapportionment. The 2000 census allocations will be in effect for the presidential elections of 2004 and 2008. The electoral votes will be reallocated following the 2010 census, and the changes will be in effect for the first time for the 2012 presidential election.

