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US elections: How the American president is elected, not by the people

The system used to determine who becomes president of the United States is based on the Electoral College, not the popular vote.In recent years, two presidents have lost the popular vote but garnered enough votes in the Electoral College to earn a seat at the White House.Read more: When can we expect US presidential election results? Political analysts weigh inUS elections: Senate majority outcome may take weeks or moreFormer President George. W. Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore in 2000, while President Donald Trump also lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in 2016.What is the Electoral College?It is made up of a group of delegates from each state, and they are the ones who vote in the Electoral College on behalf of each state. In total, there are 538 votes up for grabs.There is also no split between Electoral College votes within states.For example, if Trump gets 51 percent of Texas and Democratic nominee Joe Biden gets the remaining 49 percent, the former takes all 38 seats in the Electoral College.Race to 270Whichever candidate racks up 270 or more Electoral College votes is declared the winner. There have been a few cases where the states’ representatives did not follow through on voting and decided to vote against the popular vote in their state.The Electoral College is why there has been such great focus by the Trump and Biden campaigns on what are referred to as “swing states.”Florida is an example of a must-win for both parties. With 29 Electoral College votes, it could very well swing the vote one way or another.Alongside Florida is Pennsylvania with 20 Electoral College votes, Ohio with 18, Georgia and Michigan with 18 Electoral College votes each and North Carolina with 15. Arizona, Minnesota and Nevada are also important for Trump and Biden, with 11, 10 and 6 Electoral College votes, respectively.Traditional locks for Democrats are California and New York, which make up 84 Electoral College votes in total.Meanwhile, Texas is usually a guaranteed win for Republicans with 38 Electoral College votes, but it could be up for grabs this year as other states.Opinion polls have heavily favored Biden to win, but Trump and his supporters will be hoping for a repeat scenario of 2016.On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his belief that he has “a solid chance of winning.”For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US elections: How the American president is elected, not by the people

US elections: Almost 100 million voters cast ballots ahead of Election Tuesday

Almost 100 million US voters cast their ballots ahead of Election Tuesday in a sign of increased enthusiasm from Americans to take part in electing their next president.A total of 99,657,079 early votes were counted, according to US Elections Project, which is 72 percent of all the votes cast in the 2016 election.Read more: When can we expect US presidential election results? Political analysts weigh inHow will US markets fare after Trump-Biden election?An estimated 35 million people chose to vote in-person at polling stations, while close to 64 million voted using mailed ballots. There are 28 million mailed ballots still outstanding, the election website said.It is anticipated that the total number of voters would blow by the 138 million who voted in 2016.But the popular vote does not determine the winner. Instead, the first candidate to garner 270 votes in the 538-member Electoral College becomes the next president.Opinion polls have so far heavily favored Democratic nominee and former VP Joe Biden to cruise by incumbent President Donald Trump.In 2016, Trump was also chosen to lose to Hillary Clinton based on the opinion polls.However, Trump and the Republican Party believe the opposite and have said they expect a “Red Wave” to sweep across the country. The color red is used to describe the Republicans, while the color blue is associated with Democrats.For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US elections: Almost 100 million voters cast ballots ahead of Election Tuesday