the number of electors that each state or federal district is allowed to have
Unless Mr Kerry hangs on to Pennsylvania with its 23 electoral votes, he will beunable to win.
electoral vote in American English
noun
the vote cast in the electoral college of the U.S. by the representatives of each state in a presidential election
Word origin
[1815–25, Amer.]This word is first recorded in the period 1815–25. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: aggressive, artifact, coupon, treadmill, trolley
Examples of 'electoral vote' in a sentence
electoral vote
An upset could hand him the state's six electoral votes.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
California has fifty-five electoral votes, but that number hasn't increased since 2003.
The Times Literary Supplement (2018)
To win, you need 270 electoral votes.
The Sun (2012)
Those wins gave him 46 electoral votes, enough to win the presidency.
Times, Sunday Times (2018)
Just eight states are in play, worth a total of 100 electoral votes.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
That will bring the number of electoral votes - the votes allocated to states that actually determine the president - to forty-three.