With Election Day less than a week away, here’s a rundown of what you need to know about the upcoming 2024 presidential election in the United States.

 Who Can Vote?

To be eligible to vote in the U.S., citizens must meet a few basic criteria, including:

– Being a U.S. citizen
– Living in the state where they are registered to vote
Must be at least 18 years old

Yes, voter eligibility does vary by state, but at times much has to do with the person’s record, such as criminal records. In some states, people who have felony convictions might face lifetime bans on voting. Of approximately 230 million eligible Americans to vote, a little more than an estimated 160 million are registered, and even fewer are likely to turn up. This year’s election in 2020 saw a record turnout of about 66 percent of those eligible, the highest in over a century.

How Does the U.S. Election Work?

U.S. politics is primarily dominated by two major parties: the Democrats, who tend center-left and liberal, and conservative Republicans. Primary elections or caucuses are held to choose each party’s nominee, with the Democratic and Republican National Conventions being the finalizing events of each of the nominees. This election puts Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris against Republican former President Donald Trump.

Although he first sought re-election, President Joe Biden pulled out of candidacy in July 2024 after an uncomfortable debate. Third-party candidates like Jill Stein with the Green Party and Chase Oliver with the Libertarian Party also join in, bringing other insights into the race; the challenge for them to win, however, is high.

Each presidential candidate selects a running mate to run for vice president. This election, Harris is on the ticket with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, while Trump selected Ohio Senator JD Vance. The popular vote is not the deciding vote in an election but rather it determines who becomes president and vice president through the Electoral College.

 How Does the Electoral College Work?

Understanding the U.S. Electoral College is at the core of understanding how the U.S. presidential elections work. Other than members of Congress, who are elected through popular vote, the president is elected by electors from each state. When Americans vote, they are technically voting for a slate of electors who are pledged to a certain candidate. Those electors then meet and cast their votes, per the popular vote results of each state.

It takes 270 electoral votes out of 538 to win the presidency. This system can also create anomalies in which a candidate wins the popular vote but loses the presidency. The most recent example was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Trump.

 Early Voting and Swing States

Because U.S. elections always fall on the first Tuesday in November, Election Day this year is November 5th. But in most states, early voting has already begun, with upwards of 52 million votes cast so far. The states considered to be some of the most critical swing states are Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona, because their vote margins are razor-thin and will help determine the outcome of the election. The current polling has Harris with a slight national lead, though Trump has been closing the gap, especially in key battleground states.

 What Are the Polls Saying?

Per FiveThirtyEight, Harris has a slight 1.5-point lead, though a Reuters/Ipsos poll puts her lead within the margin of error. Trump is, for instance, up on bread-and-butter issues such as the economy and immigration, but Harris has gained traction on issues including political extremism. Both candidates remain neck and neck, and thus, the swing states may be enough to make all the difference.

When Will We Know the Results?

With the volume of early votes, mail-in ballots, and absentee ballots, it would be unlikely to find a winner on election night itself. Vote counts start coming in as soon as the polls close; final results may take a little while longer, especially in states allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day if they turn up later.

An extended timeline would offer more avenues to narratives of election illegitimacy.

 Take, for instance, how Trump once tried to claim fraud in the face of vote counts that changed after Election Day in 2020 due to late-arriving ballots heavily supporting Democratic candidates.

If no candidate receives 270 electoral votes, a contingent election is held. The president is then selected by the House of Representatives–one vote from each state, while senators select the vice president. This has only occurred once, in 1824 when the House selected John Quincy Adams.

The world is holding its breath while Americans go to the polls. Will the people want continuity, or will they opt for change? The future of American leadership will have a new clarity with the election in 2024, the week after next.

Whereas more than 230 million Americans are eligible to vote, only 160 million of them are registered. Voter turnout also significantly differs between presidential and election years. For example, presidential election years usually attract more voters compared to midterm elections. In 2020, around 66% of those qualified, or approximately 158 million out of 239 million, voted – the highest percentage in more than a century. In the coming 2024 election, high voter turnout is again expected, especially since the stakes will be high and interest in key issues such as the economy, healthcare, climate change, and immigration will be very intense.

Understanding the U.S. Election Process

The U.S. electoral process is unique and somewhat complex, with the domination of the two major political parties:

The Democratic Party, center-left, is for policy that centers on social equality, economic intervention, and progressive reforms.
is the more conservative party, which emphasizes minimal government involvement in most spheres of life and a firm national defense with free market principles in economy.
Primary elections or caucuses in each state allow all registered party members to vote for their preferred candidate. The nominee chosen is then ratified at the national convention. This year, Vice President Kamala Harris won the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden bowed out in July due to health concerns and poor performance during initial debates. Republicans nominated former President Donald Trump to provide a rematch for the two candidates.

Third Party/ Independent Candidates
Alongside the two major parties are third-party candidates, which complement the electoral landscape. Although it is rare in recent U.S. history that any third-party candidate has captured any significant percentage of the vote, at times these candidates have brought attention to key issues and even at times can become “spoilers” in close states. Among the third-party candidates running in 2024 are:

Jill Stein of the Green Party, whose signature issues include environmental policy and social justice
Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party, on limited government and civil liberties; and Cornel West, academic and activist, ran as an independent and had a platform of anti-war policies and economic equality. Third-party candidates often have an uphill climb in securing electoral success but can move the political conversation and change the outcome in races, especially in states where it will be close.

The Electoral College: How It Works and Why It Matters
One of the peculiarities of U.S. presidential elections constitutes the system of the Electoral College. Instead of directly electing their president in one national popular vote, each state is allocated a number of “electoral votes”-a base number representing its population. There are 538 total electoral votes, and to win the presidency, a candidate must garner 270 of those electoral votes.

How does it work?

When Americans vote, they’re choosing a slate of electors promised to vote for their candidate.
In December the electors meet, to formally, vote for president and vice president.
In early January, Congress confirms that result, and the new president is sworn into office on January 20. Why the Electoral College System Can Yield Surprising Results
Of course, there is the Electoral College system, which accounts for a number of the out-of-the-ordinary outcomes when a person who wins the popular vote may turn around and lose the electoral vote, hence losing the presidency. In fact, that is exactly what happened on five occasions in the nation’s history and most recently in 2016, where Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost three million votes but lost to Donald Trump via the Electoral College.

This system places disproportionate weight on swing states, or states where the vote can go either way and hence serve to carry greater significance in the final outcome. Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin are going to be some of the essential battlegrounds this year in 2024; it is these states where candidates really show and shower a great amount of time and resources in campaigning.

Early Voting, Mail-In Ballots, and Voter Turnout
Voters in the United States can do more than show up to vote on Election Day. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, here are some of the ways to cast your vote:

Early voting allows eligible citizens to vote in person at a time before Nov. 5th in most states, and this year over 52 million votes have already been cast.
Mail-in ballots offer flexibility, particularly to those who are unable to vote in person. This form of voting jumped in 2020 out of necessity because of the pandemic, but while it is less common this year, millions more Americans nevertheless continue to depend on it.
The more significant early and mail-in voting means, in most cases, results will not be fully known on Election Day. Many states count ballots postmarked by Election Day, which could delay results in hotly contested areas even further.

Polling and Key Issues as Election Day Approaches
The polling shows a close race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Per FiveThirtyEight, Harris leads nationally by a slim margin at 1.5 points; however, Trump has pared this down substantially, and in key swing states, Trump’s position is consistently improving. For Trump, economic issues and immigration remain strong, while Harris holds the edge on political extremism and social policy. Places such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan went into the wire, with national polling not able to call the election completely because of the influence of the Electoral College.

Some of the critical topics in the 2024 election include:

The economy: inflation, security of the job market, and taxation policy

Healthcare: access, price, and reform of health insurance

Climate change: policy on clean energy, protection of the environment

Immigration: debate on security of borders, ways to citizenship.
Political division: Concern about increasing polarization and political extremism.
When Will We Know the Results?
With media outlets making projections as the polls close, it’s unlikely the result will be known on election night itself because of the time it takes to process the mail-in and absentee ballots. Is it true that many states have laws allowing ballots to be counted if they arrive after Election Day, as long as they’re postmarked by November 5? It might take days – or even weeks – to confirm a winner, particularly if the race is close in the key states.

In the event of an extremely close election or a disputed outcome, the House of Representatives and the Senate stand ready to undertake the responsibility of deciding who shall be president and vice president by contingent methods. This “contingent election” process, used once in 1824, is rare but constitutionally provided if no candidate receives a majority vote of 270 or more electoral votes.

Election Security and Potential Controversies
In the past few years, election security has been paramount on everybody’s mind-especially with documented foreign interference in past cycles. For 2024, election officials and cybersecurity experts are at work, securing voting systems from a number of threats that include misinformation campaigns and cyberattacks.

Not only that, but there is also a fear of disputes that might arise after the election. That was what happened in 2020, where former President Trump claimed that the presidential election was rigged since it took quite a while to count all the mail-in ballots. If any delay occurs, then that very same storyline could pop up. Election officials try to reassure transparency and security processes in an attempt to regain public trust in the system.

What’s Next?
Now, with less than a week to go before the election, Election Day 2024 will go down in history as one of the most intensely observed and potentially historic elections in recent U.S. history. The result will have wide ramifications, setting the path of the country regarding pressing issues and framing America’s position on the world stage.

With Americans now preparing to cast their votes, the world is watching to see in which direction the results will take the U.S. Will it be more of the same with the current administration, or a return to former leadership? By next week, we should start to have answers—though, as recent elections have shown, the final decision may take some time to unfold

How to

hassanmoazzam6016