There’s less than a week left until Election Day in the United States. Here’s what you need to know about how the 2024 presidential vote will be conducted.
Who can vote?
In the United States, citizens must meet very basic eligibility criteria to vote. They must be:
U.S. Citizen Resident of the state where you are registered to vote 18 years or older
Voter eligibility may vary from state to state, especially regarding criminal convictions. For example, individuals with criminal records may face restrictions such as losing their permanent right to vote in certain states.
There are approximately 160 million registered voters, but not all of them vote. Voter turnout in the 2020 election was about 66%, the highest in more than 100 years.
Republican candidate Donald Trump (left) and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris (File: Eduardo Muñoz, Nathan Howard/Reuters)
How are elections in the United States conducted?
American politics is dominated by two political parties: the broadly center-left, liberal Democratic Party, and the right-wing, conservative Republican Party. Potential candidates from either party emerge and compete for the presidential nomination. To choose their candidates, Democrats and Republicans hold primaries or caucuses in each state, with the winner ultimately accepting the nomination at the Republican or Democratic national conventions. This cycle currently pits Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris against Republican former President Donald Trump.
US President Joe Biden initially sought re-election for a second term, but resigned in July after his dismal performance in the debates cast doubt on his ability to govern for another four years.
There are also third-party and independent candidates, including Jill Stein of the Green Party, Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party, and anti-war scholar Cornel West.
During the election stage, a presidential candidate appoints his or her running mate (in this case, Democratic and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance) and, if the candidate’s candidacy is successful, Becomes vice president. Voters then vote to elect a president and vice president, and the results of this vote are transmitted through the Electoral College.
Since 1845, U.S. elections have been held on the first Tuesday in November. But voters also have the option of early voting in most states, with more than 52 million votes already cast.
Voters leave an election center during primary voting on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in Kennesaw, Georgia (File: Mike Stewart/AP Photo)
How does the Electoral College work?
To understand how U.S. elections are conducted and how voters choose the next leader, you need to understand the U.S. Electoral College.
Unlike members of the U.S. Congress, who are directly elected by voters, the U.S. president is not elected by a direct vote of the people. Instead, when Americans vote, they select “electors” from their states who pledge to vote for specific presidential and vice presidential candidates based on the number of votes each candidate receives in the state. It will be. Once the votes are counted and certified, these electors officially cast their votes. The infographic below provides an overview of this process.
(Al Jazeera)
Want to learn more about the Electoral College? Watch the short instructional video below or read this quick overview.
How many electoral votes do you need to win an election?
To win a U.S. presidential election, you need 270 electoral votes, which is a majority of the 538 total electoral votes available.
This system can produce amazing results. A candidate can win the national popular vote but lose in the Electoral College, something that has happened five times in U.S. history. The most recent example was in 2016, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become president despite losing nearly 3 million votes nationwide.
(Al Jazeera)
What are the polls saying?
As Election Day approaches, Harris and Trump are locked in a tight race for control of key battleground states. We’re watching the undecided voters in these states closely to see which direction the race could actually move significantly.
According to the FiveThirtyEight pollster, Harris has a narrow 1.5 percentage point lead nationally, but Trump has almost closed the gap. The Reuters/Ipsos poll has Harris leading by just one point, within the margin of error.
United States between Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris held at the Admiral bar and restaurant in Washington DC on September 10, 2024. Screen showing the presidential debate (File: Alison Bailey/AFP)
Trump leads on the economy and immigration, but Harris’ lead on political extremism is waning.
In battleground states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, margins are razor-thin. Although national polls favor Harris, the Electoral College result remains uncertain, reflecting the unpredictability of past elections.
When will I find out who won? When will the results be announced?
It’s in the air. It is highly unlikely that a winner will be determined on election night. But it’s not out of the question. Historically, winners were announced on election night or the morning after.
As voting closes across the country on Election Day, the media will report real-time results, with results coming in from the Eastern time zone first. Final tallies may not be immediately available, especially if the volume of mail-in and absentee ballots increases. Some states have laws that allow ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they arrive later. This process can cause delays in certain states, especially those with narrow margins.
Trump could use these delays to push the theory that the election was stolen, as he mistakenly tried to do in 2020. In that election, many of the votes that arrived or were counted late went to Democrats. The party has gained more support in cities where vote counting takes longer because Mr. Trump has discouraged his supporters from voting by mail.
If no candidate wins 270 electors, a contingency election will be held. Each state casts one vote in the House of Representatives to elect the president, and the Senate elects the vice president. House candidates need a majority (26 states) to win. The last time this unusual process occurred was in 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives after Andrew Jackson won the popular vote and electoral votes but fell short of a majority.
The White House in Washington, DC, home of the US president and symbol of presidential power (File: Zach Gibson/EPA-EFE)
What are the important dates to keep an eye on?
Election Day: November 5 – Most Americans vote in person or by mail. Certification Deadline: November 6 to December 11 – States have this period to certify their election results. Electoral Vote: December 17 – Electors meet to formally cast their votes. Congress Counts the Electors: January 6, 2025 – Congress convenes to count and certify the electors. Inauguration Day: January 20, 2025 – The president-elect is sworn in, marking the transition of power.
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