Clinton leads US president-elect Trump by over 2 million in popular votes

Hillary Clinton is now more than two million votes ahead of President-elect Donald Trump in the popular vote count for the US presidential elections, a tally compiled by the Cook Political Report showed Wednesday.

The Democratic candidate’s 1.5% lead in the popular vote makes no difference to the outcome of the November 8 election, which Trump won by taking a majority of electoral votes. Clinton conceded the following day.

But the former secretary of state’s popular vote lead continues to grow.

She has received 64,227,373 votes to Trump’s 62,212,752 million, according to the Cook Political Report’s latest tally, which was compiled from official sources.

Hillary Clinton speaks to the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington. (Reuters File Photo)

It is the second time this century that a Democrat has won the popular vote but lost the presidential election.

In 2000, vice-president Al Gore lost to George W Bush despite winning nearly 544,000 more votes than his Republican rival.

The Supreme Court ultimately decided that election, pushing Bush over the top in electoral votes by giving him the win in the contested state of Florida.

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First Published: Nov 24, 2016 08:35 IST