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Americans don't directly elect the president — they vote for electors who cast the official votes.
Americans do not directly elect the president. Instead, they vote for electors who then cast the official votes. Each state gets electors equal to its number of U.S. Representatives plus its 2 Senators. A candidate needs 270 of 538 electoral votes to win.
Citizens vote for president in each state and D.C. on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Each state certifies its popular vote results and identifies the winning candidate.
In mid-December, electors meet in their state capitals to cast their official votes.
On January 6, Congress meets in joint session to count electoral votes and declare the winner.
No candidate won a majority. The House chose Adams over Jackson, who had won the most electoral and popular votes.
Disputed results in three Southern states were resolved by a partisan commission. Hayes won by one electoral vote.
Cleveland won the popular vote but Harrison won the Electoral College by carrying key swing states.
The Florida recount was halted by the Supreme Court (Bush v. Gore). Bush won Florida by 537 votes.
Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million, but Trump won the Electoral College by carrying swing states.