US voters do not actually vote directly for their president. In a process prescribed by the US constitution, the job of actually voting for the president is left to a group of officials known as the electoral college. Each state has a set number of electors in the electoral college roughly proportionate to its population or equal to the sum of its senators and representatives in Congress.

There are currently 538 electoral college votes spread across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. California has the most with 55 electoral college votes.

The candidate who wins 270 electoral votes - one more than half the votes - becomes president. A candidate wins a state's electoral votes by prevailing in the mostly winner-take-all state contests.

Tally of electoral votes

The following is a tally of projected electoral votes based on results reported by at least two independent newswire sources including AP and dpa.

Results for Obama

California: 55

Colorado: 9

Connecticut: 7

Delaware: 3

Hawaii: 4

Illinois: 20

Iowa: 6

Maine: 4

Maryland: 10

Massachusetts: 11

Minnesota: 10

Michigan: 16

Nevada: 6

New Hampshire: 4

New Jersey: 14

New Mexico: 5

New York: 29

Ohio: 18

Oregon: 7

Pennsylvania: 20

Rhode Island: 4

Vermont: 3

Virginia: 13

Washington: 12

Washington, DC: 3

Wisconsin: 10

Results for Romney

Alabama: 9

Arizona: 11

Arkansas: 6

Georgia: 16

Idaho: 4

Indiana: 11

Kansas: 6

Kentucky: 8

Louisiana: 8

Mississippi: 6

Missouri: 10

Montana: 3

North Carolina: 15

North Dakota: 3

Nebraska: 5

Oklahoma: 7

South Carolina: 9

South Dakota: 3

Tennessee: 11

Texas: 38

Utah: 6

West Virginia: 5

Wyoming: 3