In the national popular vote, <u>Gore</u> received <u><em>48.4 percent</em></u> while <u>Bush</u> received <u><em>47.9</em></u>, <em>losing by over 540,000 votes</em>. U.S. presidents, however, are chosen by the Electoral College, a system in which “electoral votes” are assigned to states based on their population and then awarded as a lump sum to the winner of the popular vote in that state – currently, it takes 270 electoral votes to win. By the end of Election Night, 2000, <em><u>Gore’s tally stood at 250 and Bush’s stood at 246 with Oregon</u></em>, Wisconsin and Florida too close to call.
