US election 2024
What are swing states and electors? This is how Americans vote
In November, Americans will vote on their next president. It depends on voters and swing states. We’ll explain what you need to know about the US electoral system in under three minutes.
Every four years, US citizens decide whether a Democrat or a Republican should be their president. The election traditionally begins in the towns of Dixville Notch and Millsfield because residents counted their votes shortly after midnight. The latest results come from Hawaii. The fact that results only arrive gradually due to the time difference in the individual states is one of several peculiarities that characterize the presidential election in the USA. The two candidates standing for election have already prevailed in the primaries against competitors from their own party.
On election day, voters do not cast their votes directly to the candidates, but instead to voters. The number of voters per state depends on its population: from a minimum of 3 voters in low-population states like Montana to 55 in the most populous state, California. Important: In almost all states, a basic principle applies: “The winner takes it all” – the winner gets everything.
USA: Swing States and Electors? This is how Americans vote
What does that mean? Suppose a state has 10 voters. One candidate receives 70 percent of the vote in this state, the other only 30 percent. Now the winner wins not 7 but 10 voters. The loser goes away completely empty-handed. This principle means that in some states the distribution of voters can be predicted before the vote is cast.
Namely in states where a party traditionally has a very large base of voters. Because even if the smaller party catches up, as long as it receives less than half of the votes, it will come away empty-handed. Other states, on the other hand, are wavering and can tip the scales. These states are called swing states. In other words, states that in the past have sometimes voted for the Democrat and sometimes for the Republican. In such states there is a particularly large amount of election advertising. That’s why there is a lot of election campaigning in the swing states. There are a total of 538 electors. These form the Electoral Collage. Whoever has at least 270 on their side becomes president.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
