The date, swing states, how the US presidential election works and more, explained

Voting is ongoing, and the results are expected in the coming days.

Although the final ballot count won’t be confirmed for days, and the Electoral College won’t officially vote for weeks, the 47th US president is expected to be named within days of the election.

When is election day 2024?

The US election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 (US time).

Voters will vote on who will become president, as well as congressional nominees for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. In some states and territories, local elections will be held on the same day.

The winner of the presidential election will be sworn in at his official inauguration on Monday, January 20, 2025 and will serve four years in the White House.

How does voting work on election day?

Many US citizens have already voted before Election Day through the mail-in or early voting system.

Those who have not done so will go to polling places across the country to cast their vote, with polls in some jurisdictions open as early as 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. (US time).

As soon as the polls close in any US state, officials will begin counting votes, but because each state does it differently, it could be hours or days before the final results are announced.

Results are expected to start coming in on election night in the US, which will be the afternoon of Wednesday, November 6 in Australia.

How are the election results determined?

The public does not vote directly for the next president in the US.

Instead, they cast their votes for the candidate they prefer, and then all the votes in the state are tallied and used to determine how the Electoral College will vote.

What is an elective course?

The Electoral College is a collection of 538 electors – real people – who voted for the next president on behalf of their country. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.

The exact number of electors representing each state varies and is based on the size of the delegation in Congress, not population. Each state is entitled to at least three electors, but California has the most, 54.

Electors are elected in different ways depending on the country they represent. Most are elected by political parties.

How does the Electoral College work to determine the president?

First, the public casts their vote for who they want as president, which goes according to a statewide tally known as the popular vote. This total dictates how the state’s electors will vote.

In all but two states, Maine and Nebraska, the candidate who wins the statewide recount receives all of the state’s electoral votes.

Maine and Nebraska use a proportional system and divide their electoral votes between the winner of the state vote and the candidate who wins the vote in each separate district of the US House of Representatives. This can cause the vote to be split.

The candidate with at least 270 electoral votes wins the election.

Although the electoral college does not vote until mid-December, the results of the election will be clear well before then.

What are swing states in elections?

Many states in the US are known as ‘red states’ or ‘blue states’ based on whether they lean Republican or Democratic. Those with similar levels of support for both parties are known as swing states.

These states are important during elections, as they can go either way on Election Day, and their support in the electoral college can be crucial to a candidate’s success.

The swing states in the 2024 US election and the number of electoral votes they have are: Nevada (six votes), Arizona (11 votes), Wisconsin (10 votes), Pennsylvania (19 votes), Michigan (15 votes), North Carolina (16 votes ) and Georgia (16 votes).

Together, these swing states provide 93 electoral votes. A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win, making swing states crucial.

How are candidates for vice presidents chosen?

Vice presidential candidates are usually chosen by the presidential candidate and the party they represent. They are usually chosen based on electoral considerations, such as appealing to a certain demographic.

Harris is running against Tim Walz for vice president, while Trump is running against JD Vance.

What happens if no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes?

If neither Harris nor Trump can secure 270 electoral votes, the votes go to the US House of Representatives to decide.

This has only happened twice in history: the first time in 1800, when Thomas Jefferson was eventually elected by the House of Representatives, and again in 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected.

Can a candidate win the election but lose the election?

Yes, and that has already happened five times: in 2016, 2000, 1888, 1876 and 1824.