US Elections 2024: Why do Nebraska and Maine split their electoral votes? Here's how it works

In 50 states of the United States, Nebraska and Maine split their electoral votes. Both states have two electoral votes and one for each Congressional districts. While Nebraska is reliably Republican, Maine is Democratic. However, the opposite party in each state manages to win one district.

As the counting of votes for the much-awaited US presidential elections is underway, the trends suggest Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, is heading towards a comfortable victory. According to the US electoral system, forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., award all their presidential electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide. However, Nebraska and Maine are exceptions to that.

Nebraska and Maine provide split votes, unlike other states. The two states each award two electoral votes to the winner of the statewide vote, as well as one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in each congressional district. 

Split electoral vote in Nebraska

In Nebraska, there are three congressional districts and five total electoral votes, while in Maine, there are two congressional districts and four total electoral votes. In Nebraska, which is reliably Republican in statewide elections, a Democratic candidate could get one electoral vote from the 2nd Congressional District, including Omaha's Democratic-friendly population centre. 

Nebraska adopted the split system in 1992. However, it was in 2008 that Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win an electoral vote from the 2nd District under this system. Later in 202, Joe Biden became the second Democrat.

Therefore, if Kamala Harris were to win Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and lose every other battleground state, she would need the electoral vote from Nebraska’s 2nd District to win the presidency.

Nebraska came to light with its split system earlier this year when some Republicans tried to change state law to award all its electoral votes to the statewide winner as the rest of the states. The effort failed when a key GOP state legislator came out against it.

Vote split in Maine

In Maine, the vote is reliably Democratic in statewide elections, however, the Republicans are competitive in the more conservative 2nd Congressional District. The split system was adopted in Maine in 1988 but the state had its first electoral vote split in 2016 when Donald Trump clinched the 2nd District's vote. He repeated the victory again in 2020.

Although two votes are unlikely to make or break a presidential bid of either candidate, in a tight contest, it can become a potential tie-breaker in the Electoral College.  

(With inputs from agencies)