A Simple Guide to the US Election 2024 | 2024 US Election News

Election Day in the United States is less than a week away, so here’s what you need to know about how the 2024 presidential election will work.

Who can vote?

In the United States, citizens must meet some very basic eligibility criteria in order to vote. They must be:

• A US citizen
• A person residing in the state where they have registered to vote
• 18 years or older

Eligibility can vary from state to state, especially when it comes to criminal convictions. For example, people who have a criminal record may face restrictions in certain states, including losing the right to vote permanently.

It is estimated that there are more than 230 million people who are eligible to vote in the United States. But only about 160 million of them are registered voters, and not all of them will actually vote. In the 2020 election, voter turnout was around 66 percent of eligible voters, the highest it has been in more than a century.

How does the American election work?

American politics is dominated by two parties, the largely center-left and liberal Democrats and the right-wing and conservative Republicans; potential candidates are emerging from both parties to vie for the presidential nomination. To select their nominee, the Democrats and Republicans hold primaries or caucuses in each state, culminating in the winner accepting the nomination at either the Republican or Democratic National Convention. This cycle now pits Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris against former Republican President Donald Trump.

US President Joe Biden had originally sought re-election to a second term, but he dropped out in July after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his ability to govern for another four years.

There are also third-party candidates or independent candidates, such as the Green Party’s Jill Stein, the Liberal Party’s Chase Oliver and anti-war academic Cornel West.

In the election phase, the presidential candidates nominate their own candidates—in this case, the Democrats and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the Republican Ohio Senator JD Vance—who will become vice president if the nominee’s candidacy is successful. Electors then cast their vote for a President and Vice President, and the result of that vote is then channeled through the Electoral College.

Since 1845, elections have been held in the United States on the first Tuesday in November. However, voters also have the opportunity to vote early in most states, and more than 52 million votes have already been cast.

How does the electoral college work?

To understand how US elections work and how voters choose their next leader, one must understand the US Electoral College.

Unlike members of the United States Congress, who are directly elected by voters, the President of the United States is not elected by a direct national vote. Instead, when Americans cast their ballots, they select a list of “electors” from their state who commit to voting for specific presidential and vice presidential candidates, based on the votes cast in the state for each candidate. Once the votes are counted and certified, these voters formally cast their votes. The infographic below outlines this process.

Do you want to know more about the electoral college? Watch the short explanatory video below or read this short overview.

How many electoral votes are needed to win the election?

It takes 270 electoral votes to win a US presidential election, which is a majority of the total 538 electoral votes available.

This system can produce surprising results: a candidate can win the popular vote across the country and still lose the Electoral College, which has happened five times in American history. The most recent instance was in 2016, when Trump won the presidency over Hillary Clinton despite trailing by nearly three million votes nationwide.

What do the polls say?

As Election Day approaches, Harris and Trump are battling hard for control of key swing states. We’re keeping a close eye on undecided voters in these states, which could actually swing the race either way.

Harris has a narrow 1.5-point lead nationally, according to FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracker, though Trump has nearly closed the gap. A Reuters/Ipsos poll puts Harris ahead by just one point within the margin of error.

Trump leads on economic and immigration issues, while Harris has a diminishing edge on political extremism.

Swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona show razor-thin margins. Although national polls favor Harris, the Electoral College outcome remains uncertain, reflecting the unpredictability of past elections.

When will we know who won? When will the results be published?

It’s up in the air. It is highly unlikely that a winner will be chosen on election night. However, it is not out of the question. Historically, a winner would be announced the night before or the morning after the election.

When polls close across the country on Election Day, the media will report results in real time, with results coming from the Eastern time zone first. The final tallies may not be available immediately, especially with the increased number of submitted and absentee ballots. In some cases, states have laws that allow ballots postmarked by election day to be counted even if they arrive later. This process can lead to delays in certain states, especially those with narrow margins.

These delays could be used by Trump to spread the narrative that the election has been stolen, as he mistakenly tried to do in 2020. In that election, many of the votes that arrived or were counted late were for the Democrats, typically because the party has more support in cities where vote counting takes longer and because Trump discourages his supporters from using mail-in ballots.

If no candidate wins 270 electoral votes, a quota election takes place. The House elects the President, with each state casting one vote, and the Senate elects the Vice President. A House candidate must have a majority (26 states) to win. This rare process last happened in 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives after Andrew Jackson won the popular and electoral votes but lacked a majority.

What are the most important dates to watch?

• Election day: 5 November – Most Americans vote in person or by mail. mail.
• Certification deadlines: 6 November – 11 December – States certify election results within this time frame.
• Electoral college vote: 17 December – Voters meet to cast their official votes.
• Congress counts electoral votes: January 6, 2025 – Congress convenes to count and confirm electoral votes.
• Inauguration day: 20 January 2025 – The elected president is sworn in, which marks the transition of power.