You’d think a state twice the size of Texas would have a massive say in who sits in the Oval Office. Honestly, it doesn't. When the dust settles on election night, the math for Alaska is predictably tiny.
Since it joined the party in 1959, the answer to how many electoral votes Alaska has has never changed. It’s three.
Just three.
That is the absolute bare minimum allowed by the U.S. Constitution. It puts Alaska in a club with other low-population spots like Wyoming, Vermont, and even Washington, D.C. If you’re looking at a map, it seems weird that this giant landmass has the same pull as Delaware. But the Electoral College isn't about acreage; it's about heads.
The Math Behind Alaska's Three Votes
The formula for this is basically Civics 101, but with a twist that keeps Alaska stuck at the bottom. Every state gets one electoral vote for each of its members in Congress.
Specifically:
- Two votes for the two U.S. Senators.
- One vote for its at-large member in the House of Representatives.
Because Alaska has such a small population—roughly 733,000 people according to recent estimates—it only qualifies for one seat in the House. Even though the state is huge, there just aren't enough people to justify a second representative. Until that population number jumps significantly, Alaska isn't going anywhere. It stays at three.
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It’s a bit of a paradox. Alaska’s single House member, Mary Peltola, represents more land than dozens of other representatives combined, yet her "weight" in the Electoral College is the same as a representative from a tiny, crowded district in New York City.
How the 2020 Census (And 2026 Reality) Changed... Nothing
Every ten years, the U.S. Census Bureau goes out and counts everyone. They use those numbers to reshuffle the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. This is called apportionment.
After the 2020 Census, some states won big (Texas picked up two seats) and some lost (California lost one for the first time ever). Alaska? It didn't budge. The 2020 count confirmed what we already knew: Alaska is growing a bit, but nowhere near fast enough to grab a second House seat.
This means for the 2024 and 2028 presidential cycles, the how many electoral votes Alaska count remains locked at three.
Does Having Three Votes Make Alaska Irrelevant?
Sorta. But not entirely.
In a blowout election, three votes are a rounding error. However, in a razor-thin race, those three votes are everything. Think back to the 2000 election. A few hundred votes in Florida decided the whole thing, but every single small state's tally was a brick in the wall.
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One thing that makes Alaska unique compared to, say, Wyoming, is how it actually picks the winner of those three votes.
In 2020, Alaskans voted to change the game. They moved to a system of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). While the state is still technically "winner-take-all" for its electoral votes—meaning the person who wins the final round of RCV gets all three votes—the way voters get to that winner is totally different from almost everywhere else.
Most states use a "plurality" system. You pick one person, and if they get 35% of the vote but everyone else gets less, they win. In Alaska, if nobody gets more than 50% in the first count, they start tossing out the bottom candidates and redistributing the second-place votes. It’s a wild process that keeps things interesting even if the total vote count is small.
The Republican Streak
Alaska has a reputation for being deep red. Since 1964, the state has gone Republican in every single presidential election. The only Democrat to ever win Alaska was Lyndon B. Johnson.
But here’s the thing: it’s getting more complicated.
While the GOP usually takes those three electoral votes, the margins have been shifting. In 2020, Donald Trump won the state by about 10 points. That sounds like a lot, but in 2000, George W. Bush won it by 30 points. The "redness" is fading into more of a "purple-ish" hue, especially with the rise of independent-minded voters who don't like being told what to do by national parties.
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Why 2028 Probably Won't Be Different
Looking ahead to 2028, the question of how many electoral votes Alaska has is already settled. The apportionment from the 2020 Census stays in effect until the 2030 count is finished.
Barring some massive, unprecedented migration of millions of people to the North Slope, Alaska is going to keep its three votes for the foreseeable future.
What You Should Know
If you're tracking the path to 270 (the number of votes needed to win the White House), don't ignore the "small" states.
- Small but mighty: Alaska’s three votes are equal to the combined total of several small Pacific island territories (if they had votes, which they don't).
- Winner-Take-All: Unlike Maine or Nebraska, Alaska doesn't split its votes. If a candidate wins the state by one vote after the RCV tallies, they get all three electors.
- The "Over-Representation" Argument: Because of the two-senator rule, an individual voter in Alaska technically has more "power" in the Electoral College than a voter in Florida. One electoral vote in Alaska represents about 244,000 people. In Florida, one vote represents over 700,000.
Practical Next Steps for Following the Election
If you’re watching the maps this year or next, keep an eye on the Alaska Division of Elections website. Because of the Ranked Choice system, Alaska often takes a long time to finalize its results. Don't expect to know where those three votes are going at 9:00 PM on election night.
You can also check out the Federal Register's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for the official Certificates of Ascertainment. These are the actual documents that prove which electors are heading to the meeting in December to cast the votes.
Understanding the "why" behind the numbers makes the "how" much clearer. Alaska might be the biggest state on the map, but in the math of the presidency, it’s a small, steady constant. Keep that in mind when the pundits start talking about "clearing the path to 270." Those three votes are part of the foundation.