Some important information about the U.S. elections
In the U.S. election, not every candidate who receives the most popular votes (the number of votes from the nationwide electorate) will win, as the results are based on the votes of the Electoral College.
The Electoral College consists of 538 votes, equivalent to the total number of seats in the U.S. Congress (535 seats + 3 electors from Washington D.C.).
Each state has its own number of electoral votes, corresponding to the total number of senators and representatives of that state in Congress.
A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win.
Hillary Clinton received over 65 million popular votes, while Donald Trump had about 63 million votes.
However, Trump won with 304 electoral votes, thanks to victories in key states.
This is a classic example of a candidate losing the popular vote but still winning due to the Electoral College mechanism (similar to George W. Bush in 2000).
Most U.S. states employ a "winner takes all" system, meaning that the candidate who wins the majority of popular votes in the state will receive all of that state's electoral votes.
Electors can vote differently from the popular vote results, known as "faithless electors," but since 2020, the Supreme Court has allowed states to establish laws binding electors to the popular vote results.
Key battleground states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona will play a decisive role.
On November 4, 2024, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump appeared together in Pennsylvania for final speeches urging voters.
The inauguration day will be January 20, 2025.
