The results are now final: Clinton wins popular vote by nearly 3 million

pulse

December 21, 2016 3:37 PM

Hillary Clinton secured nearly 3 million more votes than President-elect Donald Trump in the final popular vote tally, which by Wednesday morning was certified in all 50 states and Washington, DC.

Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic presidential nominee ended up with more than 65.84 million votes, compared with the more than 62.97 million ballots cast for the president-elect.

Of course, Trump won the Electoral College and thus the presidency by pulling off narrow wins in traditionally Democratic states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, while Clinton ran up higher vote totals than President Barack Obama did in the 2012 election in states like California, Texas, and Arizona.

Clinton's popular vote total fell just short of Obama's 2012 result, by fewer than 75,000 votes. Trump secured the most votes of any Republican presidential candidate in history.

In terms of overall percentage, Trump's 2.1% loss in the popular vote was the third-lowest mark for a victor in the past 49 elections. Trump's share of electoral votes ranked 46th out of 58 elections.

But Trump and his surrogates have insisted on calling his victory a "landslide." On Wednesday, after news of the final tally broke, Trump tweeted that he would've campaigned differently if the election were based on winning the popular vote.

"Campaigning to win the Electoral College is much more difficult and sophisticated than the popular vote," he posted. "Hillary focused on the wrong states!"

"I would have done even better in the election, if that is possible, if the winner was based on popular vote — but would campaign differently," he continued. "I have not heard any of the pundits or commentators discussing the fact that I spent FAR LESS MONEY on the win than Hillary on the loss!"

pulse