From presidential polls to gubernatorial races – the key numbers you need to know behind the 2024 US election

2024 US Elections: As the US election day approaches on November 5th, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are making their final bid in battleground states that are seen as close. For the White House.

American voters don’t just choose a president and vice president. However, apart from the governorship, the positions in the Senate and House of Representatives are also elected.

Mint highlights some of the key numbers from this election.

186.5 million Americans are eligible voters to choose the 47th President of the United States.

435 members of the House of Representatives

Voters in all 50 states choose members of Congress. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are elected.

In the United States, each state is assigned a number of representatives to the House of Representatives. This number is based on the state’s population.

Six non-voting members of Congress from U.S. territories do not have voting rights. The six U.S. territories are the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Non-voting members, also known as delegates, are elected every two years along with other members of Congress, except for Puerto Rico, where representatives are elected every four years.

US Senate seats 33

Of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, 33 seats will be elected this time. One seat will also be decided in a special election. Each state has two seats in the U.S. Senate, unlike the House of Representatives, where the number of seats is determined by the state’s population.

Currently, there are 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 4 independents in the U.S. Senate. The four independents are Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angus King of Maine, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

The Vice President is the President of the United States Senate. Presides over the Senate meeting and announces the results of the presidential election.

Close Senate races include Montana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Texas. Democrats hold seven of those seats, and Republicans currently hold one.

7 swing states

It’s easy to predict the outcome because every state in the United States is divided into either Democratic or Republican states. These states are also identified as blue or red states after 2000. Red represents Republicans and blue represents Democrats.

But in some states, the contest is less clear-cut, with votes swinging between Democratic and Republican candidates. These states are known as swing states, swing states, purple states, or toss-up states. And for obvious reasons, candidates from both parties are going all out in these states, especially in the final stages of campaigning.

States where polls show a margin of victory of less than 5 percentage points are classified as battleground or swing states.

The seven battleground states for the 2024 US election are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

electoral college

Voters do not directly elect the president and vice president of the United States. In reality, U.S. voters actually vote for electors who represent their states. Once the vote counting is complete, the Electoral College (the body of people representing each state in the United States) will officially vote for president and vice president.

These electors cast their votes to determine the president and vice president at the Electoral College meeting in December. This year’s voting will take place on December 17th.

Exceptions in Maine and Nebraska

In 48 of the 50 US states, the presidential candidate who receives the most votes wins all of that state’s electors. However, two states do not apply this method: Maine and Nebraska.

Both Maine and Nebraska use a different electoral voting system called the House District system. These two states are the only states in the United States that deviate from the traditional winner-take-all method of allocating electoral votes.

mathematics

The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of members of the House of Representatives plus two, or the number of senators in each state.

For example, Florida has 30 electoral votes. The state has 28 representatives and two senators. Similarly, Texas has 40 electors. The state has 38 representatives and two senators.

The Electoral College has 538 electors. University electors are selected by political parties before the election. These electors are usually party officials or supporters.

Popularity Vote Doesn’t Guarantee Victory

Therefore, in US elections, the candidate who wins the popular vote does not necessarily win the White House.

For example, in 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote to Republican Donald Trump. Mr. Trump won key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where polls had predicted that Ms. Clinton would win.

gubernatorial election

Voters in 11 states and two territories (Puerto Rico and American Samoa) will also elect governors in the 2024 U.S. election. States with new governors include Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, West Virginia, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

early voting

The United States also allows early voting, also known as advance voting or advance voting. This is essentially a convenient voting process that allows voters to vote before their scheduled election date, in this case November 5th.

Early voting can be done remotely, such as by mail-in voting, or in person, usually at a designated early voting polling place. The availability and duration of early voting varies by jurisdiction and election type.

The idea behind early voting is typically to increase voter participation and reduce crowding at polling places on Election Day.

According to a NYT report, more than 44 million Americans have voted early so far this election cycle.

Voter turnout

Voter turnout in the US presidential election is approximately 60%. The 2020 presidential election had a turnout of 66.6%, the highest in more than a century. Voter turnout in 2016 was 60.1%, compared to 58.6% in the 2012 US election and 61.6% in the 2008 US election.