What are how states count their votes?

In the United States, states count their votes in different ways, just like how kids in a classroom might count jellybeans in different groups.

Imagine your classroom is a state, and you're all voting for your favorite snack. Some classrooms count every kid’s vote one by one, that's like some states where everyone votes together, and the total is counted as one big group.

But other classrooms might let each table count their own jellybeans first, then add them up, just like some states have different ways to count votes. For example, in a state, there might be counties, which are like smaller groups inside the classroom, and each county counts its own votes before sending the total to the whole state.

Sometimes a state uses a special way, like if they have lots of people, they might use machines or even paper ballots. It's all about making sure every vote is counted fairly, just like you'd want to make sure every jellybean is counted when you're choosing your favorite snack!