The day Americans and the world have been waiting for has arrived. Today they will choose their next president. However, they clearly indicate to their representatives – voters, which candidate to support. What is a US election?
American elections are different from what we know from our electoral reality. In the United States, the majority vote may differ from the final result of the election. This was already the case – in 2016, there were about 66 million votes cast for Hillary Clinton and less than 63 million for Donald Trump. However, it was the latter who later became the President of the United States. Because the election is determined not by the absolute majority of voters' votes, but by the majority of voters' votes. He got 306 of them and Clinton got 232. Below we explain what it is.
SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about the US presidential election
What's up with the voters?
There are a total of 538 electors, that is, exactly as many members of the House of Representatives and Senators, plus three from the District of Columbia (this is not a state, but a federal territory, including the US capital, Washington, and does not have its own representatives and senators. ). To become president you need to have 270 of the 538 people on your side.
Each state has a certain number of electors. The largest – California – currently up to 54, then Texas – 40, Florida – 30 and New York – 28.
United States Electoral College PAP
The nature of individual states and their voting history suggests that some electoral votes can now be given to one of the candidates with almost 100% certainty – because in California, a Democrat has always won the presidential election for 32 years, and in Texas, from Since 1980, republics always win. Almost one hundred percent because… anything can happen. For example, the state of Iowa, which was previously considered “safe” for Trump, where he won by a significant margin in previous elections, may have changed his sympathies recently. According to a poll by Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register, Kamala Harris is currently winning there 47 percent to 44 percent.
SEE ALSO: To the White House through the “blue wall” or through the “sun belt”? Possible scenarios
What are the main states?
In the final weeks of a campaign, we often hear about key states, swing states, or swing states. Here, none of the candidates has a clear advantage over his opponent, and it is the votes cast in these states that can determine the final victory of one or another candidate. This year's elections are: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These states have been at the center of the election campaign in recent weeks.
Pennsylvania has the most “key” votes – 19 – and here the fight seemed to be the most intense. To the end, the polls also showed that it was very equal.
Swing declares PAP
MORE ABOUT KEY STATES
How voters vote
Let's go back to voters from individual states. After today's vote and the counting of all the previously cast votes, they will know who to choose in the election seat, which will be held on December 17. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have a winner-take-all system, which means that only a one-vote margin in the popular vote is needed for all of that state's electoral votes to go to the winning candidate. The exceptions are the states of Nebraska and Maine, where the so-called districting system – electoral votes are distributed in a two-stage process.
Theoretically, the so-called unbelieving voters – vote contrary to what the citizens of this or that state have decided. This happened in the case of the 2016 elections, which was mentioned at the beginning of the text. Although according to the results after election night, Trump was entitled to 306 votes and Clinton 232 votes, in the end he received 304 votes and she received 227 votes. But it was not important for the overall result. Dozens of states have laws designed to prevent such actions and even provide for the possibility of fines. But in practice, voters almost always vote the way the state's residents want them to vote.
Theoretically, the electoral vote could be 269 to 269. The new president is then elected by the House of Representatives.
SEE ALSO: Where are these voters from and why they may have been gone for so long
When will we know the election results?
After the end of voting, counting of votes will begin. Persons who participated in the election day and in previous voting – in person and in absentia. Results for individual states may be announced on election night. In the charts shown by the media, we can see how many candidates fall short of 270 electoral votes. In the election, the one who gets more support than this threshold wins.
When will we know the results? During the second term of Barack Obama, his victory was predicted before midnight on election day. Donald Trump's first election was announced earlier at 9 o'clock in the morning Polish time. But we only learned the results of the duel between Trump and Biden on Saturday 17 Polish time.
It is known that the Electoral College, which will officially determine the winner, will meet on December 17. On January 6, the session of the Congress of the United States will be held, where the votes of the electors will be counted – then the winner of the US presidential election will be officially announced.
SEE ALSO: Who will lead the major states? What the survey mean tells us
Main photo source: Reuters
