Nebraska and Maine could split their electoral votes. Here’s how it works

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., award all their presidential electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide.

Then there’s Nebraska and Maine.

The two states each award two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide vote, as well as one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district. Nebraska has three congressional districts and five total electoral votes, while Maine has two congressional districts and four total electoral votes.

This means that, although Nebraska is reliably Republican in statewide elections, a Democratic candidate could poach one electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional District, which includes the Democratic-friendly population center of Omaha. Barack Obama in 2008 was the first Democrat to win an electoral vote from the 2nd District under this system, and President Joe Biden was the second in 2020.

If Vice President Kamala Harris were to win Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and lose every other battleground state, she would need the electoral vote from Nebraska’s 2nd District to win the presidency.

Earlier this year, some Nebraska Republicans tried to change state law to award all its electoral votes to the statewide winner as the rest of the country does. The effort failed when a key GOP state legislator came out against it.

Maine votes reliably Democratic in statewide elections, but Republicans are competitive in the more conservative 2nd Congressional District. In 2016 and 2020, Democrats carried the state overall, but former President Donald Trump received the 2nd District’s lone electoral vote both years.

A candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes to win the White House.

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Robert Yoon, The Associated Press