The results have begun to come in in the United States presidential elections. There is a close race between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Whoever wins will become the 47th president. There are two types of voting in American elections: popular voting and electoral voting. However, the final results are decided by electoral vote. Do you know what the electoral vote and the popular vote are? Can electoral voting results be changed even after winning the popular vote? Do you understand what the path forward is for Trump and Harris?
1. How is victory and defeat decided in the United States?
The popular vote in the United States presidential election looks at which candidate the public has supported and this vote plays an important role in determining the electoral vote. Because, in the end, electoral votes decide victory or defeat. In reality, Americans vote by the Electoral College and then these electors elect the President. In such a situation, sometimes the wishes of the voters remain unheard.
2. What are swing states?
In fact, in the United States, the president is decided by the weighted voting system, known as the Electoral College. Not by popular vote. Because of this, swing states play an important role in deciding the results. Swing states are those that have the greatest number of electoral votes. For example, California, the most populous state in the United States, obtains 55 electoral votes. While small states get only 3 votes. In such a situation, candidates also have to focus more on the electoral votes of these big swing states.
3. What is the Electoral College?
The Electoral College is an electoral body that has been formed to elect the President and Vice President of America. According to this, the votes of the electors do not go directly to the candidate, but are given to the representatives elected by each state, who are called electors. Only the votes of these electors elect the President. There are a total of 538 electors in the Electoral College. Of them, 435 are members of the House of Representatives, 100 are members of the Senate and 3 electors are from Washington DC (which is not a state). The number of electors for each state is based on that state’s population and can change every 10 years based on the census.
4. How are Electoral College votes decided?
There are 50 states in the US and each receives a certain number of Electoral College votes based on its population. To win it is necessary to obtain 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538. In the initial trends of the Electoral College as of Wednesday morning, Trump is seen ahead, while Kamala is not far behind.
5. Who gets all the Electoral College votes?
On voting day, American citizens arrive at the booth and vote for the electors assigned to their state based on population. Voters take into account whether or not the elector they are voting for represents the candidate of their choice. This is called a popular vote. The candidate who wins the “popular vote” decides whether Republicans, Democrats or a third party will vote for president in the Electoral College.
6. What results matter in victory or defeat?
The results of the popular vote make it clear that a simple majority will be achieved in the states. However, this indirect election system also creates an uncomfortable situation. For example, a candidate may get fewer popular votes, but if he gets enough electoral votes, he can become president of the United States.
The recent case is from 2016. Trump won the United States presidential election. Trump’s rival Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, had won almost three million more popular votes, but Trump managed to win 306 Electoral College votes and also won the important states with the highest number of Electoral College votes. These include Texas (38), Florida (29), Pennsylvania (20), Ohio (18), Michigan (16), Georgia (16), North Carolina (15), Arizona (16) and Wisconsin (10) which have elected Trump. as President he made the path easier to do.
7. How are American elections different from the Indian electoral process?
The United States has been using the Electoral College in presidential elections since its inception. That means the people indirectly elect their president. If we understand this from the point of view of the electoral process of India, then in our country the voters elect the MLAs or MPs through Assembly or Lok Sabha elections and then these MLAs or MPs elect the Chief Minister or the Prime minister. However, in the United States the whole process is a bit complicated.
The Electoral College is a system in which even a candidate with fewer popular votes can win the election. There have been five presidents in American history who won presidential elections without winning the “popular vote” of the public.
8. What is the winner-take-all system?
Whichever presidential candidate receives the most popular votes in a given state will typically win all of the Electoral College votes. The winner-take-all system applies in most states. This means that the candidate who receives the most votes in the state will win all of the state’s electoral votes. Only in Maine and Nebraska is this system different and there the electoral votes are divided.
For example, in 2020, Joe Biden won California and won all 55 Electoral College votes. Understand this with the example that in 2020, a total of 1.71 million people voted in California. Of these, 1.11 million votes went to Biden’s account and 60 lakh votes went to Trump’s account. Now that the winner-take-all system is implemented in most states like California, Joe Biden, who got the most votes, won California’s 55 electoral votes.
9. What states are the candidates focusing on?
Presidential candidates are focusing more on states called swing states or battleground states. These are the states where there are a large number of electoral votes, which ultimately decide the president of the United States. Seven states are considered swing states in this year’s election, including Pennsylvania (19), Nevada (6), North Carolina (16), Georgia (16), Arizona (11), Michigan (15), and Wisconsin (10). . The name is included.
10. What will be the path forward for Kamala and Trump now?
Following the presidential election, all Electoral College electors will gather in their state capitals on December 17 and formally cast their votes for the next president of the United States. All electors are expected to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote in that state’s presidential election. The voters are already selected by the political party that supports its candidate in the elections. However, in some states voters are required by law to vote for their candidate and in others it is required but not mandatory.
Voters fill out ballots to elect the President. These ballots are formally certified and then securely sent to the federal government. Once the votes are cast, the results are sent to the United States Congress. Along with this, a copy of the votes is also sent to the National Archives. Each state sends its electoral votes in sealed envelopes to Congress through a representative.
The United States Congress will convene on January 6, 2025, and the votes will be counted. The name of the winner will be announced later. The new president will then be sworn in on January 20.
There are some exceptions in which electors do not vote in favor of the candidate for whom they were elected. These voters are called faithless voters. In some states fines are imposed on faithless voters, while in others their vote may even be rejected. However, this is very rare and generally does not have a major impact on the outcome of the election.
What is the entire selection process…understand in simple language?
- In the United States presidential election, voters cast their ballots for the first time in their state. Since the American electoral system is based on the Electoral College. Each state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on its population. The winning candidate in a state obtains all of that state’s electoral votes (except in some exceptional states).
- After that, the votes in each state and region are first counted. The popular vote (direct vote of the elector) determines how many votes a candidate has received.
- In the end, the winning candidate from each state receives all of that state’s electoral votes. Most states have a winner-take-all system, in which all of the state’s electoral votes are awarded to a single candidate.
- After the election, each state’s delegates (who are pre-elected) meet in December to cast their electoral votes. These representatives cast their votes according to the wishes of the voters of that state.
- In early January, the United States Congress formally counts all electoral votes. This work is done in the joint session of Parliament.
- After the Electoral College votes are counted, the candidate who obtains 270 or more electoral votes out of 538 is elected President. If no candidate obtains more than 270 votes, the House of Representatives elects the President.
How many electoral votes in which US state?
state electoral votes
Alabama-9
Alaska- 3
Arizona- 11
Arkansas-6
California- 54
colorado- 10
Connecticut- 7
Delaware-3
District of Columbia-3
Florida- 30
Georgia- 16
Hawaii-4
idaho-4
Illinois- 19
indiana-11
Iowa-6
Kansas-6
Kentucky- 8
Louisiana- 8
Maine-4
Maryland- 10
Massachusetts- 11
Michigan- 15
Minnesota-10
Mississippi-6
Missouri- 10
montana-4
nebraska-5
Snowfall-6
New Hampshire- 4
New Jersey- 14
New Mexico- 5
New York- 28
North Carolina- 16
North Dakota- 3
Ohio-17
oklahoma-7
Oregon-8
Pennsylvania- 19
Rhode Island- 4
South Carolina- 9
South Dakota- 3
Tennessee- 11
Texas- 40
Utah-6
Vermont- 3
Virginia- 13
Washington- 12
West Virginia- 4
Wisconsin- 10
Wyoming-3
