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How many popular votes did Kamala Harris get in the 2024 presidential election?
Executive summary
Contemporary reporting and post‑election tallies show Kamala Harris received roughly 74.4–75.0 million popular votes in the 2024 U.S. presidential contest, amounting to about 48.3–48.4% of the national vote (major outlets’ certified totals cluster around 75 million) [1] [2] [3]. Different outlets and trackers published slightly different final tallies as certifications and provisional ballots were completed; available sources document that range rather than a single universally agreed figure [3] [1] [2].
1. Tight margin, multiple certified tallies
The nation’s final popular‑vote totals were close and reported with small variations after states certified results and provisional ballots were counted. The Cook Political Report captured Harris at about 75 million votes (48.33%) while Donald Trump was reported at about 77.3 million (49.81%) [3]. NPR cited Associated Press figures showing Harris with about 74.4 million votes (48.36%) when roughly 96% of votes were in, reflecting how late counting in blue states shifted the totals slightly [1].
2. Why numbers differ between outlets
Differences among reputable trackers and news organizations come from timing (AP final certification dates versus earlier tallies), how provisional and late‑arriving ballots were handled, and whether a source used the AP certified count or its own aggregation [2] [3] [1]. For example, some round figures to the nearest hundred thousand or million in summaries; Fox affiliates cited AP’s certified count finalized Dec. 30, 2024, putting Harris at about 75,019,257 votes (48.4%) [2].
3. Where the consensus sits
Taken together, the sources cluster Harris’s raw popular‑vote total at roughly 74.4–75.0 million votes and her share at about 48.3–48.4% [1] [3] [2]. The Cook Political Report and Council on Foreign Relations pieces explicitly list totals near 75 million [3] [4], while AP‑based tallies reported by outlets like NPR show slightly smaller numbers earlier in the post‑Election Day counting [1].
4. Electoral context versus popular vote
Although Harris received about 75 million popular votes, Donald Trump won the Electoral College and the presidency in 2024 — the Electoral College result was 312 electoral votes for Trump to 226 for Harris — highlighting the recurring difference between the national popular vote and the Electoral College outcome [4] [5]. Several sources note this was a very close nationwide popular‑vote result, the narrowest since 2000 in percentage terms [3].
5. What this means politically
Analysts emphasized that the narrow popular‑vote gap reflected turnout, demographic shifts, and differing vote‑count timing across states; post‑election studies pointed to changes in minority and suburban voting patterns that narrowed prior Democratic advantages [6] [7]. The small margin in a 155‑million‑vote field meant a few hundred thousand votes in three Midwestern states determined the Electoral College outcome, even though the national popular totals were nearly even [3].
6. Sources, caveats and how to cite the number
If you need a single concise figure for reporting or citation: use “about 75 million popular votes (≈48.3–48.4%)” and note that AP‑based certified counts and major trackers place Harris in that neighborhood [3] [2] [1]. If precision matters, cite the exact tally from the source you prefer — for example, Cook Political Report’s “75 million (48.33%)” or the AP‑based NPR snapshot of “about 74.4 million (48.36%)” — and explain that small differences stem from timing and certification [3] [1].
Limitations: available sources report slightly different final vote totals depending on timing and whether they use AP certification or other aggregations; no single universally binding “final” number appears within this set of sources, but they all place Harris in the ~74.4–75.0 million range [3] [1] [2].