In U.S. presidential elections, a candidate needs a minimum of 270 electoral votes out of 538 to win. Each state’s electoral votes are awarded based on its number of representatives and senators, and most states use a winner-takes-all system. Reaching or surpassing the 270 threshold is required to secure the presidency.
In U.S. presidential elections, a candidate needs at least 270 out of 538 electoral votes to win because of the structure of the Electoral College, which assigns a set number of votes to each state based on its population size. This system requires a majority of the electoral votes (more than half) for a candidate to secure the presidency, which comes to a minimum of 270 votes.
The total of 538 comes from the sum of the 435 members of the House of Representatives, 100 senators, and 3 electors allocated to Washington, D.C., based on the 23rd Amendment. This design encourages candidates to win broad, geographically diverse support across states rather than just focusing on the most populous areas.