© 2026 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace St.
Buffalo, NY 14202

Toronto Address:
130 Queens Quay E.
Suite 903
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6


Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
BTPM NPR Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Differing shades of blue wavering throughout the image
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Calculating the Popular Vote, Delegate Tallies

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

There are a few different ways you might measure who's ahead in this race, and we're going to walk through some of them right now. One way is who's won more states?

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

Well, starting with the first caucus in Iowa two months ago, Barack Obama has won 27 contests. Hillary Clinton has won 17, but that includes Florida and Michigan. Those states, as we just mentioned, that have been stripped of their delegates.

SIEGEL: But here's another way to look at it. If you add up the total numbers of votes cast around the country, Obama leads Clinton by 51 to 49 percent. All told, he's gotten about 582,000 more votes. Those numbers are from the Web site RealClearPolitics.

BLOCK: But if you add in those troublesome states of Florida and Michigan, that lead shifts. Remember, Barack Obama was not on the Michigan ballot. With Florida and Michigan counted, Clinton has about 40,000 more votes than Obama.

Now, as for the delegate count, again according to the Associated Press, Obama leads there too with 1,567 delegates; that's both pledged and superdelegates. Clinton has 1,462. Among pledged delegates alone, Obama has racked up 140 more than Clinton.

And if we figure out a way to calculate momentum, we'll let you know. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Melissa Block is a special correspondent and guest host of NPR's news programs.