the mccain won the popular vote statewide. however (as is the case in maine), in nebraska, two electoral votes are given to the winner of the statewide popular vote. the remaining electoral votes (in the case of nebraska, which has five electoral votes, this means three) are distributed: one is appointed to the winner of each congressional district. in this case, obama narrowly won the votes of nebraska's 2nd congressional district, and therefore, received an electoral vote.