Electoral College 2000, Alphabetical Order
Electoral College 2000, Population
Electoral College 2000, Poll Closing Time

The number of electors for each state is equal to the number of Representatives plus the number of Senators. The candidate with the highest popular vote tally receives all of the state's electoral votes, with the exception of electoral votes from Maine and Nebraska.

In Maine and Nebraska only 2 at-large electoral votes go to the winner of the statewide popular vote: in these states, the presidential candidate with the highest popular vote in each of the state's Congressional Districts wins 1 electoral vote from that particular district as well. Maine has been doing this since the 1972 presidential election, Nebraska is a newcomer to this "districting" system of allocating electoral votes to the presidential candidates in the November General Election- having had this in place only beginning with the 1996 election.

The relevant statutes governing this procedure in each state are:

Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A, section 802. Presidential Electors; Representation:

• "One presidential elector shall be chosen from each congressional district and 2 at large"

Nebraska Revised Statutes 32-710. State postprimary conventions; selection of presidential electors [excerpt]:

• "One presidential elector shall be chosen from each congressional district, and two presidential electors shall be chosen at large"

The U.S. Constitution- in Article II, Section 1, clause 2 (which was not altered by the later 12th Amendment)- reads, in part, as follows: "Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors... etc." [italics ours]; it is this constitutional provision which permits the several States to do what Maine and Nebraska have already done in switching over to the "districting" system from the more usual so-called "general ticket" system for allocating electors.

There are a total of 538 electors and 270 votes are needed to elect. Should no candidate receive the necessary 270 votes then the election is decided by the Congress. The House, voting by states and not as individuals (a majority of the total number of states being necessary to a choice), chooses the President and the Senate, voting by individuals and not as states (a majority of the total number of senators being necessary to a choice), chooses the Vice President.
 

Polls close from
2300 UCT Tuesday, November 7, 2000 (6p EST, 5p CST, 4p MST, 3p PST, 2p AK, 1p HI) to
0500 UCT Wednesday, November 8, 2000 (12m EST, 11p CST, 9p MST, 8p PST, 7p AK, 6p HI)
 

This chart reflects the poll closing times used by the networks and other media outlets on Election Night. There is an "unenforced pledge" to not project a winner in a state until that state's polls have closed (which, to the media, means "most of the state's polls have closed").

Below the chart is an outline of potential difficulties which may occur when a state is spans time zones. (Poll closing times are extended for voters still in line when the hour of poll closing has arrived.)
 

322 total electoral votes by 0100 UCT

This is the earliest at which a candidate could be projected to have been elected the next President of the United States, assuming a candidate has been projected to win the necessary 270 electoral votes to be elected.

538 total electoral votes by 0500 UCT

The polls will have closed in all states.

KANSAS - 8 pm CST or 7 pm MST
Polls close at either 7 pm or 8 pm local time by local option. Closing at 7 pm MST is not mandated for locales in that time zone. Relatively few MST locales in KANSAS do, in fact, close their polls at 7 pm local time (MST) in order to have virtually the entire state's polls closed by 8 pm CST. There COULD be a few isolated polls in the far western portions of the state which remain open for an additional hour- 9 pm CST/8 pm MST.

NEBRASKA - 8 pm CST/7 pm MST
The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

SOUTH DAKOTA - 8 pm CST/7 pm MST
The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

TENNESSEE - 8 pm EST/7 pm CST
The polls close at the same GMT/UTC time, that is, polls close at a particular local time in the advanced time zone and close one hour earlier local time in the lagging time zone.

The following states close their polls at the "prevailing time" (that is, whatever the local time happens to be- regardless of the time zone).

FLORIDA - 7 pm in both EST and CST
INDIANA - 6 pm in both EST and CST
MICHIGAN - 8 pm in both EST and CST
In these three EST/CST states relatively small portions of the states are in CST and so the vast majority of the polls are closed by the time indicated EST, when the networks feel they can project.

KENTUCKY - 6 pm in both EST and CST
Poll closing time could be rather problematic in KENTUCKY. A large chunk of the state is in CST [but the networks consider that "most of the polls have closed" in KENTUCKY by 6 pm EST and so, if they can, project at the same time they project INDIANA]. CST voters in KENTUCKY may note the networks' willingness/eagerness to project a winner as early as 6 pm EST.

IDAHO - 8 pm MST and PST
A sizable part of IDAHO is in PST but, as the MST section is the much more populated portion of the state, the networks consider that "most of the polls in IDAHO" are closed by 8 pm MST.

NEW HAMPSHIRE
NEW HAMPSHIRE permits its 13 cities to keep their polls open until 8 pm EST by local option- however, as there ARE only 13 cities among New Hampshire's 234 County subdivisions [the 221 "non-cities", of course, being the proverbial New England Town(ship)], the fact is that the vast majority of NH's polls have closed by 7 pm EST and the networks have no problem considering this hour as the earliest hour of potential projection.

NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH CAROLINA allows its County Boards of Elections to decide whether to keep polls open until 8:30 p.m. EST but, outside of metropolitan areas, this local option is not often utilized and so 7:30 p.m. EST is the networks' earliest time of projection because the vast majority of that state's polls will have closed by that hour.

NORTH DAKOTA - 9 pm CST and MST
The western half of the state is in MST but that is, of course, the more sparsely populated part of the state, so it is not as problematic to the networks as might be otherwise suggested by simple geography.

OREGON - 8 pm PST and MST
OREGON is the reverse of the norm because the by far largest portion of the state is in the lagging time zone and the networks have no choice but to not consider the OREGON polls closed until 8 pm PST.

TEXAS - 7 pm CST and MST
The only the area surrounding El Paso is in MST- so the vast majority of the polls have closed in TX by 7 pm CST.