Massachusetts has 11 electoral votes. The number comes from the state’s congressional delegation: nine U.S. House seats plus two U.S. senators.1National Archives. Distribution of Electoral Votes That allocation reflects the 2020 Census and applies to both the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Where the 11 Comes From
Every state’s electoral vote total equals its House seats plus its two Senate seats. The House is capped at 435 members, reapportioned among the states after each decennial census. Add the District of Columbia’s three votes under the Twenty-third Amendment and the national total is 538, with 270 needed to win.2USAFacts. Electoral College and States Representation
Massachusetts kept its nine House seats after the 2020 Census, holding its electoral vote count at 11.3U.S. Census Bureau. 2020 Census Apportionment Results The state had dropped from 12 to 11 after the 2010 Census, losing one House seat because its population grew more slowly than the national average.4Congressional Research Service. The 2010 Census and Congressional Apportionment That change took effect with the 2012 elections.5CBS News Boston. Electoral College Votes Massachusetts
What Happens After the 2030 Census
The 2030 Census will set the allocations used starting with the 2032 presidential election.2USAFacts. Electoral College and States Representation Early projections do not place Massachusetts among the states expected to gain or lose House seats in the next round.6Politico. 2030 Electoral College Projections The state’s population was roughly 7.15 million as of mid-2025.7Boston Herald. Massachusetts Population Growth Slows Projections carry real uncertainty, though, because immigration levels, census accuracy, and possible policy changes to who gets counted could all shift the result.8Brennan Center for Justice. How States’ Seats in the US House Could Change After the Next Census
How Massachusetts Awards Its Electoral Votes
Massachusetts uses winner-take-all. Whichever presidential candidate wins the statewide popular vote receives all 11 electoral votes. Only Maine and Nebraska split theirs by congressional district; the other 48 states and D.C. do what Massachusetts does.1National Archives. Distribution of Electoral Votes
The individual electors who cast those 11 votes in December are chosen by each party’s state organization, typically loyal activists, elected officials, or other prominent party figures.9NCSL. The Electoral College When you mark a candidate on your ballot, you are technically selecting that candidate’s slate. After the election, the governor signs a Certificate of Ascertainment appointing the winning slate, and the electors meet in December.
Massachusetts law requires electors to sign a pledge to vote for the candidate named in their party’s filing.10General Court of Massachusetts. General Laws Chapter 53, Section 8 The statute does not set a penalty for breaking the pledge, but ballots are pre-printed with the nominees’ names, and party screening makes faithless voting rare in practice.11WBUR. Electoral College Massachusetts Electors Vote
Where Those 11 Votes Went in 2024
Democrat Kamala Harris won all 11 of Massachusetts’s electoral votes in 2024, defeating Republican Donald Trump by roughly 25 points. Harris received about 2.13 million votes (61.2%) to Trump’s 1.25 million (36.0%).12AP News. Massachusetts Election Results 2024 The Associated Press called the race for Harris at 9:00 a.m. on November 6, 2024.
A Reliably Democratic State
No Republican has carried Massachusetts since Ronald Reagan in 1984, when Reagan won the state by about 71,000 votes out of roughly 2.6 million cast.13Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1984 Presidential General Election Results Every Democratic nominee since has won the state.
Massachusetts also holds a distinctive place in Electoral College history. In 1972, it was the only state to vote for Democrat George McGovern against Richard Nixon. Nixon took 520 electoral votes to McGovern’s 17; only Massachusetts, with 14 electoral votes at the time, and the District of Columbia with three, backed McGovern.14National Archives. 1972 Presidential Election Electoral College Results
The National Popular Vote Compact
One future wrinkle is worth knowing about. Massachusetts has joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, under which member states pledge to award all of their electoral votes to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote, regardless of the result within that state.15NCSL. National Popular Vote
Governor Deval Patrick signed the Massachusetts legislation on August 4, 2010, making the state the sixth jurisdiction to join.16National Popular Vote. Massachusetts The compact does not take effect until member states hold a combined 270 electoral votes. As of early 2026, 18 states and D.C. had enacted it, representing 222 electoral votes, which is 48 short of the trigger.17National Popular Vote. Written Explanation Until that threshold is reached, Massachusetts continues to award its 11 electoral votes under the traditional winner-take-all rule.