Five key concepts to know before the U.S. election
1 - Electoral college
The President isn’t chosen by popular vote. Instead, each U.S. state gets a specific number of votes, depending on its size. This is the electoral college. Whoever gets more individual votes in a state - even if it’s just by one vote - wins all of that states’ electoral college votes.
2 - Swing states
In reality, there’s only a handful of states that will determine who wins the election. That’s because most states either count for too few electoral college votes to really affect the outcome, or lean so strongly Republican or Democrat that it’s hardly a contest. That leaves a battleground of around six to eight swing states: states that in all likelihood will determine who wins. Swing states this year include Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona.
3 - Exit polls
On election day, candidates and news organisations run what’s called exit polls: they ask voters who they voted for as they leave polling stations. Ask enough people, and you get a pretty reliable prediction of who will win the election. Exit polls feature a lot in election day news coverage will candidates and news organisations wait for the actual results.
4 - Mail-in ballots
Voters who don’t want to vote in-person on election day - because, for example, they’re not near a booth, or because they’re wary of COVID-19 - can choose to send in a mail-in ballot instead. A record number of Americans have done so this election. And it could stop us from having an election result on the day: some states will take days to count mail-in ballots.
5 - Incumbent
The incumbent is the election candidate who is currently holding office. In this U.S. election, President Donald Trump is the incumbent. His rival is Democrat Joe Biden.