Kamala Harris and Donald Trump
Donald Trump is expected to win more than 300 electoral college votes in the US presidential election. Estimate because the results that have arrived today are from the popular vote. The popular vote means the vote of the people. The Electoral College vote will take place in December and the results will be officially announced on January 6.
Questions are therefore being raised about whether Kamala Harris still has a chance of winning the majority of voters. Is there still a possibility of an upset in the US presidential election? Does Kamala Harris have one last chance? But he is far behind in the popular votes, so how can this happen?
When Trump won even after losing the popular vote!
It has happened many times that a candidate wins the majority of the Electoral College even after losing the popular vote. Most recently, Donald Trump accomplished this feat in the 2016 presidential election; He got around 30 lakh votes less than his rival Hillary Clinton, but won the presidential election. So, can we believe that Kamala Harris can also repeat this feat? To know the answer to this question, we will have to better understand the Electoral College.
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What is the Electoral College?
The Electoral College is a group of electors determined for each state in America. These electors are the representatives of the candidates for the American presidential elections. When the American public votes in elections, they do not choose the candidate directly, but rather a group of these electors.
Approximately one month after the public vote, in December, a group of these electors, that is, the Electoral College, votes and in this way the next President of America is elected.
The number of electors is proportional to the members present in the Senate and House of Representatives of a state. The total number of electors from the 50 US states and Washington DC is 538. Therefore, to become president, any candidate must obtain the support of 270 electors.
Now the question arises: if voters vote in December, why is Trump’s victory claimed?
So why claim Trump’s victory in the elections?
In fact, except for two states in America, Maine and Nebraska, there are similar rules regarding electors in all states. If a candidate wins the popular vote in a state, all electors from that candidate’s party are elected in that state. This is called the winner-take-all method. But in Maine and Nebraska, electors are chosen based on a share of the popular vote.
For example, in Nebraska there are 5 Electoral Colleges, of which 4 have been won by Trump and one has gone to Kamala Harris’ account. Similarly, there are 4 electoral colleges in Maine and of them, 3 have been won by Harris and one has gone to Trump’s account.
While in the rest of the states, Trump’s victory is attributed to the votes received by the Republican and Democratic parties. The results have already arrived from 5 of the 7 undecided states, which are considered decisive for the results, Trump has won in all of these 5 undecided states, with this victory Trump is expected to obtain a total of 76 electoral colleges. There is the possibility of Trump’s victory in the 2 undecided states where results have not arrived, that is, a total of 93 electoral colleges in 7 undecided states will be Trump’s.
Excluding the Maine and Nebraska results, Donald Trump has won 27 of 48 states and is ahead in 2 states. While Kamala Harris has won in 19 states. Apart from this, he has also won in Washington DC where there are 3 electoral votes.
Based on the popular vote victory in these states, it is estimated that Donald Trump could obtain 312 electoral votes and Kamala Harris could obtain 226 electoral votes in the elections to be held in December.
Could there be a reversal in the electoral vote?
Technically, electors can vote against the popular vote because there is no constitutional or federal law in the United States regarding elector voting. However, some states have established rules that state voters must vote solely based on the results of the popular vote. At the same time, political parties have also established similar rules for their voters.
Those who vote against the rules are called “faithless voters.” Action can be taken against voters who vote against the popular vote. They can be fined, as well as disqualified from voting and replaced by a substitute voter.
In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the right to make their own laws about elector voting. So far in the history of US presidential elections, no criminal law has been implemented against any voter for voting against the rules. However, in 2016, when many electors voted against the popular vote, they were fined and declared disqualified and replaced with alternative electors.
So far in American history, 99 percent of voters have voted in the Electoral College voting solely on the basis of the promise made to their party, so there is very little chance of any upsets in the vote. of December.
