CBC News | U.S. Election Results

President

270 of 538 electoral votes are required for a majority

The race to 270

Americans pick their preferred candidate for president, but they dont directly elect that person. The electoral college vote determines the winner.

There are 538 electoral college votes in all, making 270 the minimum number a candidate must take in order to win the election.

Related |CBC's U.S. election live blog

State-by-state results

Leading or winning candidate by state

Democrat win
Democrat leading
Other
Republican leading
Republican win

The election landscape

Electoral college votes are determined by the number of U.S. Congress members each state has, so bigger states have more votes for example, California (55) and Texas (38). But most states are either Democratic or Republican strongholds, so the election is likely to be decided in "battleground" states that is, states where the polls are showing tight races or where votes have historically been close.

Battleground states

Éric Grenier's list of states most likely to determine the election outcome

Search any state by name

Senate

51 of 100 seats are required for a majority

A total of 34 seats are up for grabs in this election: 10 Democratic and 24 Republican

Democrat DEM
Democrat seats up for electionDEM seats up for election
Other OTH
Republican seats up for election REP seats up for election
Republican REP

The battle for the Senate

The Senate contains 100 seats (two for each state), but senators terms are staggered, which means that every two years, one-third of the seats come up for election. That means there are 34 seats in play this year.

The Senate has the power to confirm presidential appointees, including ambassadors and Supreme Court justices.

The latter is especially crucial this year, as the government seeks to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court in light of Antonin Scalias death. President Barack Obama named Merrick Garland as Scalias replacement, but the Republican-controlled Senate has held off on confirming him in the hope Trump wins the presidency, thereby giving Republicans the opportunity to pick their own justice.

One of the big questions heading into the election was whether or not the Democrats would be able to retake control of the Senate. The Republicans this year were defending 24 Senate seats; the Democrats, 10. To wrest control from the Republicans, Democrats needed to gain five seats. They did not, and Republicans were on track to end up with a total 52 seats, two less than they had going into the vote.

More about what's at stake in the House and Senate | Americans voting for a lot more than just the president

Senate representation by state

Each state has two senators

Democrat DEM
Republican REP
Other OTH
Undetermined TBD

House

218 of 435 seats are required for a majority

Democrat DEM
Other OTH
Republican REP

In the House

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election this year. Republicans hold a more significant majority of the seats here than in the Senate. The Democrats would need to pick up 30 seats to flip the House.

One of the unique responsibilities of the House is that it can initiate budget bills, as well as proceedings to impeach a president.

More about what's at stake in the House and Senate | Americans voting for a lot more than just the president

House representation by state

The number of representatives is proportional to each states population

State

Seats

DEM

REP

OTH