US election 2024: A really simple guide to the presidential vote

Election Day: November 5

National elections in the United States are held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. According to the Bipartisan Policy Centre, 244 million voters are eligible to vote. But 75 million Americans have already voted according to a University of Florida database.

The voters don’t directly vote for their choice of president. They vote for a group of people called electors who form the electoral college. This is unlike the process of electing members of the US Congress, who are directly chosen by voters.

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Besides the election for president and vice president, Election Day will witness polls for 13 governors and both houses of Congress.

Congress consists of the House of Representatives or the lower chamber, where all 435 seats are up for election. Representatives are elected from small districts in each state.

The Senate is the upper chamber where 34 seats are being contested with two representatives from each state. The entire House of Representatives will be re-elected, while one-third of the Senate will be renewed.

Electoral College

An electoral college is a process which includes the selection of electors by voters. The electors meet and cast votes for the president and vice president of the United States.

Each of the 50 states get a certain number of electors based on the number of seats they have in the House of Representatives and Senate.

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The 538 members of the US Electoral College gather in their state’s respective capitals after the election to designate the winner.

California has 54 electors, Texas has 40. Alaska, Delaware, Vermont and Wyoming have only three electors each.

Except in the states of Maine and Nebraska, if a candidate receives the majority of the votes from the people of a state then the candidate will receive all electoral votes of that state.

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For example, in 2016 Donald Trump won the presidency despite getting less popular votes than his Democrat challenger Hillary Clinton.

Electoral College to choose president

Although the elections is called in favour of a candidate hours or days after voting, the actual process of picking the next president and vice president is long.

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Electors will gather in their state capitals on December 17 and cast votes for president and vice president. US law states they “meet and cast their vote on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December.”

A candidate needs 270 or more electoral college votes to be declared as the winner.

US Cong to certify winner

On January 6, 2025, the US Congress will convene to certify the winner. This time, the president of the Senate will be none other than today’s vice president Kamala Harris.

Inauguration of new president

Inauguration Day takes place every four years on January 20 or January 21 (if January 20 falls on a Sunday). The president-elect and vice-president elect are sworn in at the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. The next presidential inauguration is scheduled to be on January 20, 2025.

(With agency inputs)