State votes and the 270 threshold
The Electoral College allocates 538 total votes across the 50 states and Washington, DC. Each state receives a number of electors equal to its total congressional representation (House seats plus two Senate seats). To win the presidency, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes, a simple majority. This system means a candidate can lose the national popular vote by millions while winning 270 electors through narrow victories in high-population states.
Vermont has 3 electors (the minimum); California has 54. The distribution reflects population and preserves small-state overrepresentation because every state gets two Senate-based electors regardless of size.
Swing states and the small-state bonus
Not all states are competitive. Safe Democratic states like New York and Massachusetts and safe Republican states like Texas have effectively decided the two-party race in advance. Campaigns concentrate resources in the handful of truly competitive swing states where a small margin shift changes the electoral outcome. This makes Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Arizona disproportionately important despite neither being the largest states.
Small states gain a structural advantage: Wyoming's three electors represent about one vote per 193,000 residents, while California's 54 represent one vote per 750,000. This small-state bonus is baked into the system by the two Senate-based electors.