Ronald Reagan won the popular vote with 50.8% (43,898,770 votes), ahead of Jimmy Carter with 41.0% (35,480,948 votes). Presidents are chosen by the Electoral College, so the popular vote winner is not always the winner of the election.
The margin between the first two candidates was 9.7 percentage points (8,417,822 votes). The party margin (Republican share minus Democratic share) was a Republican lead of 9.7 points.
Compared with the previous comparable race in the same area, the party margin moved 11.8 points toward Republicans. The winning party changed.
86,496,851 votes were counted in this race, for 21 candidates or options.
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