Today, Americans will vote in the US presidential election, choosing between Democrat Kamala Harris, Republican Donald Trump and Jil Stein.
This election, closely watched worldwide, also includes voting for Congress members, who play a vital role in shaping US laws.
The winner will serve a four-year term, starting in January 2025.
In the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump emerged as the candidate, with strong support over his competitors. He chose Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate.
Kamala Harris, the current Vice President, stepped in as the Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden decided not to run again. Her running mate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives to board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on September 20, 2024.
There are independent candidates too, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., although he withdrew in August and endorsed Trump.
How US Election works
The US uses an Electoral College system rather than a direct popular vote, as outlined on the official US government website, USA.gov.
This means the candidate with the most national votes isn’t necessarily the winner.
Each US state is allocated a specific number of electoral votes based on its congressional representation.
This allocation consists of two votes for each state’s Senators and additional votes equal to the number of congressional districts within that state.
There are 50 states in the US and 538 votes in the Electoral College, requiring a majority of 270 to win.
States like Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming have just three electors, while Florida has 30. California, the most populous state, has the highest number of votes with 54.
The winner isn’t the person who gets the most votes across the country. Instead, both candidates compete to win contests held across the 50 states.
Most states operate on a winner-takes-all system: the candidate with the most votes in a state wins all its electoral votes.
Only Maine and Nebraska allow their electoral votes to be split based on results in individual congressional districts.
Their distribution is based on the popular vote within the state and at the congressional district levels.
While many states vote fairly consistently for either Democrats or Republicans, some states, known as “swing” or “battleground” states, can vote either way and often determine the election’s outcome.
The candidates intensify their campaign efforts in these key battleground states, focusing on winning over undecided voters.
CBS News considers these the battleground states in the 2024 presidential election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
A candidate can lose the national popular vote but still win through the Electoral College, as happened in 2016 when Trump won despite Hillary Clinton receiving more overall votes.
Only five US presidents have been elected without winning the popular vote, three of them in the 19th century.
Faithless electors and contingent election
In rare cases, members of the Electoral College, known as “electors,” cast their votes for someone other than the candidate who won their state.
They are referred to as “faithless electors.”
If neither candidate reaches 270 electoral votes, resulting in a 269-269 tie, the decision goes to the House of Representatives in what’s called a “contingent election.”
AFP reports that the last time this happened was in 1800 when Thomas Jefferson ultimately won.
If a tie requires a House vote, each state delegation in the House gets one vote, and the candidate with a majority of state votes becomes president.
The Senate would then choose the vice president, with each senator casting a vote.
This process could result in a president and vice president from opposing parties.
This means it’s theoretically possible for Trump to be elected president with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz, or for Harris to become president with Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance.
If such a House vote becomes necessary, it will be held on January 6, 2025.
