After a campaign marked by incumbent President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race, a strong finish by current US Vice President Kamala Harris and two assassination attempts on Donald Trump, the presidential race is uncertain until the very end. The two represent two views of the world that will be affected by the choices of Americans
Citizens of the United States of America go to the polls where they will elect the president and members of Congress, but they will also express their opinions on numerous state officials and initiatives, and the outcome of the presidential elections of choice depends on seven "undecided" federal states.
After a months-long campaign marked by the withdrawal of incumbent President Joseph Biden from the race and two assassination attempts on Donald Trump, many voters have already taken advantage of the opportunity to vote early in person or by mail.
Together with those who will go to the polls on November 5, they will decide whether to give a new chance to the former president or to elect the first woman and the first member of a minority to head the USA.
How do you vote?
In order to run for president of the United States, someone must be over 35 years old, born as an American, and have lived in that country for the last 14 years.
The president and vice president of the United States of America are not directly elected by the citizens, but electors in their home state, who then decide on the candidates in the capitals of those federal states, forming the institution of the Electoral College.
In fact, when an American citizen votes, he tells the representatives of his federal state, or delegates, who they should vote for.
The winner is the candidate who wins 270 electoral votes out of a total of 538. Each federal state has a certain number of electoral votes, proportional to the number of its members in Congress - congressmen and senators. The minimum threshold is two senators and one congressman from each state.
The candidate who receives the majority of votes in a given state usually wins all of that state's electoral votes, except in the case of Maine and Nebraska, where the electors can be split.
The president can also become someone who receives fewer votes overall, which happened in 2016 when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.
The history of the USA remembers such a victory of George Bush Jr. over Al Gore in 2000.
When the votes of the November elections are determined, they are transferred to the electors, who after the election go to Washington, where, formally, the president is elected.
Electors have an unwritten obligation to respect the will of the citizens, but it happened that some electors violated the rule throughout history, although such precedents never affected the outcome of the election itself.
If no candidate wins the required 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives elects the president from among the three candidates with the most electoral votes.
There is a high probability that we will not know the winner on election night
More than 77 million Americans voted in advance in the election. Under federal law, the counting of such votes does not begin until Election Day.
Since each state has its own rules and practices for counting ballots, it is not known how long it will take to announce the winner of the election.
There is a high probability that this will not happen on election night, and disputes over the results in certain federal states can also contribute to this. In the previous elections, in 2020, the outcome was known four days after the polls closed, and in 2016 on election night.
Messages to voters
In the final messages, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris tried to present to the citizens what awaits them in the future, depending on the outcome of the election.
"If elected, Donald Trump will enter office on day one with a list of enemies." When elected, I will come in with a list full of priorities of what I will do for the American people. And I will work with everyone - Democrats, Republicans, independents, to help Americans who work hard but still struggle," Harris said at a rally in Washington.
Her opponent, former President Trump, asked his supporters again at a rally in New York if they are better off today than four years ago.
"I am here today with a message of hope for all Americans: with your vote in this election, I will end inflation." I will stop the invasion of criminals coming into our country. I will bring back the American dream. You have to stand up on Tuesday and say that Kamala Harris did a terrible job. "Kamala, you're fired," Trump said.
Ahead of the election, Republican voters are most concerned about the economy and immigration, while Democrats are also focused on the issue of abortion and the protection of democracy.
No clear favorite
Who will win is hard to predict given that the race, judging by the polls at least, is very uncertain.
"There is no clear favorite in these elections. You could argue that the polls have trended slightly more positive for Trump over the past few weeks, but not enough to make him a clear favorite. Neither a Harris victory nor a Trump victory would be surprising. It would be surprising if in the end the result would not be so tight," says Kyle Kondik, a political expert from the University of Virginia Policy Center.
He reminds us that close races are nothing new in American politics.
"There have been a number of presidential elections in recent years that have been really close." The most difficult were in 2000. Florida was decisive then, and the election was decided by a little more than 500 of the six million votes in that state. In the 2016 elections, the president was decided by about 78.000 votes in three states, and about 43.000 votes in three states in 2020," Kondik reminded.
Electoral college
The winner of the presidential elections in the USA is not determined by the majority of the total number of votes, but by the electoral college.
Although the names of the presidential candidates are on the ballots, voters actually vote for their electors. Then the electors, 538 of them, according to the system established by the Constitution, subsequently meet in their states and vote for the president and vice president.
Candidates must win at least 270 of the 538 electors who then formally declare themselves president, based on election results in the states that nominated them.
"Undecided States"
Due to such a system, the outcome of the election is decided by only a small number of federal states for which it is not known in advance whether they will favor the Republicans or the Democrats.
There are seven such states in this election, and according to polls, the race is uncertain in each of those states. Those so-called undecided states (swing states) in this election are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Source: Voice of America
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