Results & measures · Presidential election results
Popular vote
The nationwide vote total — which is not what decides the presidency.
The national popular vote is the simple sum of every vote cast for a candidate across the country. It is not how the United States elects presidents: the presidency is decided by the Electoral College, where each state's electors — not national vote totals — determine the winner.
The two can and do disagree. In 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote while George W. Bush won the presidency, and in 2016 Hillary Clinton won the popular vote while Donald Trump won the presidency. pumsdata reports popular-vote totals and identifies the popular-vote leader; it never labels that candidate the winner of the election itself.
Also known as: national popular vote, popular-vote winner.
Data: MIT Election Data & Science Lab, Harvard Dataverse.
See popular vote on the map
Explore presidential election results by state (1976–2024) and county (2000–2024) — margins, swings, and vote shares, election by election. Free while we're in beta.
Popular vote — FAQ
What is popular vote in election results data?+
The nationwide vote total — which is not what decides the presidency. The national popular vote is the simple sum of every vote cast for a candidate across the country. It is not how the United States elects presidents: the presidency is decided by the Electoral College, where each state's electors — not national vote totals — determine the winner.
Why does popular vote matter?+
The two can and do disagree. In 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote while George W. Bush won the presidency, and in 2016 Hillary Clinton won the popular vote while Donald Trump won the presidency. pumsdata reports popular-vote totals and identifies the popular-vote leader; it never labels that candidate the winner of the election itself.
Where does this election data come from?+
All figures come from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab (MEDSL), published on the Harvard Dataverse — state-level presidential returns 1976–2024 and county-level returns 2000–2024. pumsdata is an independent product that makes the data easy to map and compare, and is not affiliated with MEDSL or Harvard.