270 to Win!
270 is the number of electoral college votes needed to win the president of the United States. Even though most people think that the presidential election is a popular vote it is in fact an electoral college. Simply put each state, based on its population, has a certain number of electors who cast their vote for president. The number of electors is the number of senators plus the number of representatives. So every state has a minimum of two electoral votes. These electors meet to cast their votes for president 41 days after the popular election.