Barack Obama won last nights election with 303 electoral votes over Mitt Romney's 206. He needed 270 to win the election. Presidential elections are won by the Electoral College not by popular vote and Obama gained enough Electoral College votes to get reelected for another four years.
"Romney led the popular vote for most of the night, but that was before the western United States had their polls closed and ballots counted. Population centers in California and other western states are boosting Obama's numbers significantly," reported The Huffington Post.
Many people anticipated that Romney would win the popular vote and Obama the Electoral vote but Obama won both. He won the popular vote with 59,583,302 while Romney won 56,960,530 of the popular vote.
In 2000, Al gore won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to George Bush which caused mounting controversy. Gore got 50.9 million popular votes while Bush got 50.4 million. USA Today reported that it has also happened in two other elections. "In 1888, when Benjamin Harrison defeated popular-vote-winning president Grover Cleveland; and in 1876, when Rutherford Hayes scraped by Samuel Tilden after disputed returns in four states."
In 2008, Obama/Biden won 69 million popular votes while McCain/Palin got 59 million. In 2004, Bush/Cheney won 62 million popular votes while Kerry/Edwards got 59 million.
Obama gave a moving speech in Chicago after he won the Presidency. He said in his speech, "Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come."
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