Name: U.S. presidential election: The electoral college system explained
Uploaded: 2024-10-30T18:06:02.768Z
Duration: 2 min 43 s
Description: Americans are getting ready to go to the polls. How does the United States population vote and what are the issues and states to watch out for this time round?

Americans are getting ready to go to the polls. How does the United States population vote and what are the issues and states to watch out for this time round?

Washington

Donald Trump is preparing to take office after defeating Kamala Harris in the U.S. Presidential election.

U.S. Presidential Elect

Around 240 million Americans will soon have the opportunity to vote for the next president of the United States, yet they do not cast votes directly for the president. Instead, this decision is made through the Electoral College, comprising 538 electors spread across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. To secure the presidency, a candidate must gain the majority, translating to at least 270 electoral votes.

The distribution of these electors is not uniform, as it reflects the population sizes of each state. Thus, some states receive as few as three or four electors, while others have up to 54. Voting patterns reveal that urban areas tend to favor Democratic candidates, while rural areas more often support Republicans. The southern states and much of the Midwest traditionally lean Republican, whereas the Northeast and West Coast usually align with Democrats.

Presidential campaigns focus intensively on swing states, regions where voting preferences are less predictable. In the 2020 election, nearly all of Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s campaign visits targeted just 12 states. For the forthcoming election, candidates are prioritizing seven battleground states. These states each have distinct issues influencing voter priorities. Economic concerns, driven by inflation, affect voters universally, while specific issues such as jobs, immigration, criminal justice, and foreign policy shape preferences in Rust Belt states, Arizona, Georgia, and Michigan, respectively.

The Electoral College, ultimately, is crucial in formally electing the president, with the successful candidate inaugurated on January 20th.



U.S. presidential election: The electoral college system explained

On November 5th, around 240 million Americans will have the right to vote for the next president of the United States. But they don't actually elect number 47 directly. That's down to the famous Electoral College, 538 electors across 50 states and the District of Columbia. The presidential candidate who wins the majority of at least 270 gets the keys to the Oval Office. But I will be president for all Americans. But not all states are created equal. Some get a meagre three or four electors, others up to a whopping 54. The number depends partly on population size. Speaking of which, how does the U.S. population vote? Urban areas are more likely to vote Democrat, rural Republican. Take 2020. Donald Trump supporters on average lived more than 30 kilometers from a large town. States down south and large parts of the Midwest are traditionally Republican Red, the Northeast and West Coast Democrat Blue. Which is why presidential candidates spend most of their time and money in the swing states, where voters are neither reliably red nor dependably blue. In 2020, 98% of Donald Trump and Joe Biden's official trips were in only 12 states. This year, charm offensives will be stepped up in seven key battlegrounds. Here, the economy is a top concern across the board, as inflation weighs on wallets. But candidates also have to adapt to state-by-state concerns. For Rust Belt battlegrounds, it's jobs and purchasing power. For Border State Arizona, immigration. Criminal justice and police reform are important in Georgia, where a third of the population is African American. And in Michigan, it's the conflict in Gaza that counts for the large Muslim community. But just how these states will swing comes down to the ballot and the Electoral College, which officially designates the future president in December. And he or she will finally get to move into the White House after their January 20th inauguration.

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U.S. Presidential Elect