The way that a presidential election is won is not determined by the total number of votes an individual gets.

An individual wins the presidency when he or she wins the majority of “electoral votes” from each state

In order to win a majority, a candidate has to win at least 270 electoral votes

The number of electoral votes each state has is equal to the number of congressmen + the number or senators each state has in congress.

Every state only has two Senators.

However, the number of congressmen that a state has is based on the states population.

Therefore, the bigger the population of the state, the more congressmen it has and it therefore also has more electoral votes.New York Congressmen & Congresswomen

Ackerman, Gary, New York, 5th Arcuri, Michael A., New York, 24th Bishop, Timothy, New York, 1st Clarke, Yvette D., New York, 11th Crowley, Joseph, New York, 7th Engel, Eliot, New York, 17th Fossella, Vito, New York, 13th Gillibrand, Kirsten E., New York, 20th Hall, John J., New York, 19th Higgins, Brian, New York, 27th Hinchey, Maurice, New York, 22nd Israel, Steve, New York, 2nd King, Pete, New York, 3rd Kuhl Jr., John R. "Randy", New York, 29th Lowey, Nita, New York, 18th McCarthy, Carolyn, New York, 4th McHugh, John M., New York, 23rd McNulty, Michael R., New York, 21st Maloney, Carolyn, New York, 14th Meeks, Gregory W., New York, 6th Nadler, Jerrold, New York, 8th Rangel, Charles B., New York, 15th Reynolds, Thomas M., New York, 26th Serrano, José E., New York, 16th Slaughter, Louise, New York, 28th Towns, Edolphus, New York, 10th Velázquez, Nydia M., New York, 12th Walsh, Jim, New York, 25th Weiner, Anthony D., New York, 9th

A state with a large population like New York State has 2 senators and 29 congressmen = 31 electoral votes

A state with a small population like North Dakota has 2 senators and 1 congressman = 3 electoral votes

Washington D.C. is the only place with electoral votes that is not technically a state – it has no representation in Congress.

The Electoral College gives disproportionate voting power to the states, favoring the smaller states with more Electoral votes per person.

Without the Electoral college, politicians would only focus on the big states and major cities.

Since the Electoral College allocates each state’s votes (except Maine and Nebraska) in a winner-take-all method, there is no reason for a candidate to campaign in a state that already favors them or their opponent.

the Electoral College was established to prevent the people from making "uneducated" decisions. The founders feared the easily-swayed opinions of the public and designed the Electoral College as a protection from the easily-swayed public.

The Electoral College inadvertently reinforces this two party system, where third parties cannot enter the race without being tagged as “spoilers.”

Presidency Can Be Won Without a Majority of the Popular Vote