ocr: Each state has a fixed number of electors based on its total representation 1n Congress. Ina an election, the candidate who wins the popular vote gets all the electoral votes from that state- - even if that candidate doesnot win a majority of the popular votes. In Lincoln's case, he won more of the popular votes than any other candidate, but he did not - win a majority of those votes. He did, however, win the electoral vote by a landslide.