ok how do they figure a winner

[sledmanhof]

im not sure if i understand the whole election process but how can they show polls that project a presidential winner. correct me if im wrong but doesnt the election work with only electoral votes and has nothing to do with popoluar votes. if that is how the system works i dont understand why they spend all this time saying that obama has it won when in reality the people taking the poll dont count

like i said im dont completely understand that aspect of it but if you people could explain it to me better it would help.

 

[HawkShot99]

From your question I am reading....How can they say that a certain canidate will win when they poll the nation(popular vote poll style) when the election is based off the electoral college?

If that is what you meant, then it is simple. Do 50 polls, 1 for each state. Obama has the poll won in a state he gets the electoral votes for that state. Mccain wins the poll in another state he gets the electoral votes there. Then add them up, and we have a theoretical winner based on polls.