“Basic Data for Understanding Presidential Elections in the United States” | Daily list

Millions of Americans will go to the polls in November to choose the next occupant of the White House.

Below are the basic concepts to understand these elections.

November 2024

On November 5, 2024, the United States will hold presidential and congressional elections, which traditionally take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday of that month.

The 2020 election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump saw a record turnout of over 157 million voters.

270, the magic number

In the United States, voting is done by indirect universal suffrage in one round through a peculiar system.

Citizens appoint 538 principal electors, who will then vote for one candidate or the other.

To win the election, a candidate must secure an absolute majority of the core voters i.e. the magic number of 270.

Each state has as many major electors as there are members of Congress in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

California has the most (54) of the most populous states in the country, while Delaware, Wyoming, and the capital, Washington, have just 3.

In all but two states, the majority of votes a candidate receives takes all the major electors corresponding to that region.

The exceptions are Nebraska and Maine, where at-large electorates are allocated by proportional representation.

Major States

Some states are historically Democratic and others historically Republican.

This explains why candidates tend to focus on about a dozen states that usually change from one side to the other, influencing the outcome of the election, the famous swing states.

At-large electorates like Pennsylvania (19), Ohio (17) and Georgia (16) have the highest numbers. Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada are also attracting interest.

The hinge states may change depending on the election.