(FILES) US Supreme Court police officers maintain a clear walkway as demonstrators wave signs on December 11, 2000 in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, where the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on whether the hand recount of ballots in Florida should continue in the US Presidential race. When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as "beautiful." In November 2016, Trump won 306 electoral votes, well more than the 270 needed. The extraordinary situation of losing the popular vote but winning the White House was not unprecedented. Five presidents have risen to the office this way, the first being John Quincy Adams in 1824. More recently, the 2000 election resulted in an epic Florida entanglement between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore. Gore won nearly 500,000 more votes nationwide, but when Florida -- ultimately following a US Supreme Court intervention -- was awarded to Bush, it pushed his Electoral College total to 271 and a hair's-breadth victory. (Photo by Manny CENETA / AFP) (Photo by MANNY CENETA/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) Senate pages carry the Electoral College ballot boxes to a joint session of Congress after the session resumed following protests on January 7, 2021 in Washington, DC. When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as "beautiful." Not everyone saw it that way -- considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be crowned president. But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House. Now, as the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris approaches, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded system is coming back into focus. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) The US Supreme Court is viewed on July 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as "beautiful." Not everyone saw it that way -- considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be crowned president. But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House. Now, as the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris approaches, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded system is coming back into focus. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a Joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol earlier in the day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as "beautiful." Not everyone saw it that way -- considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be crowned president. But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House. Now, as the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris approaches, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded system is coming back into focus. (Photo by Erin Schaff / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) Cases containing electoral votes are opened during a joint session of Congress after the session resumed following protests at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, early on January 7, 2021. When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as "beautiful." Not everyone saw it that way -- considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be crowned president. But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House. Now, as the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris approaches, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded system is coming back into focus. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) A person holds the certificate of votes from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania during a joint session of Congress after the session resumed following protests at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, early on January 7, 2021. When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as "beautiful." Not everyone saw it that way -- considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be crowned president. But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House. Now, as the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris approaches, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded system is coming back into focus. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

(FILES) US President Joe Biden pauses as he concludes his address to the nation about his decision to not seek reelection, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2024. Courts, bullets and verbal stumbles have made their mark on this year's US election campaign -- one of the most extraordinary in the nation's history. At 1.46 pm on Sunday, July 21, a beleaguered President Biden announces in a tweet that he will not seek reelection, yielding to intense concerns over his ability to defeat Trump in November. It makes him the first sitting president since 1968 not to seek reelection, and upends the White House race. Kamala Harris, the first female, Black and Asian-American to serve as US vice president, gains Biden's endorsement to replace him in the campaign. (Photo by Evan Vucci / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EVAN VUCCI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

US Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two as she departs Augusta Regional Airport in Augusta, Georgia, after touring damage by Hurricane Helene on October 2, 2024. Harris is returning to Washington, DC, after delivering remarks on the Federal response after the passage of Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / POOL / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)