After all votes are cast in this year's presidential race, the count will begin to be reported. But in America's unusual electoral system, there are essentially two counts: the popular vote and the electoral college results.
This is how they work:
What is the popular vote?
The popular vote is your vote: the votes of the people. The popular vote is equal to the number of votes cast.
What is the electoral college?
The electoral college is made up of 538 electors: one for each representative and senator of Congress, plus three for the District of Columbia. To become president, Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump need to reach a majority of 270 voters.
The electoral college is based on a state's representation in Congress, which in turn is based on a state's population.
As the most populous state in the country, California has the largest number of electors: 54, for its 52 representatives and two senators. Harris is widely expected to win the popular vote in California and therefore win all 54 electors.
In most states, whichever candidate wins the popular vote in a state receives the award from the state's electors in a “winner-take-all” system.
However, two states, Maine and Nebraska, have a proportional representation electoral college. Both states award two electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote, and then one to the winner of each congressional district (Maine has two congressional districts, Nebraska has three).
Each state's political party generally names the slate of electors.
So how does a candidate become president?
To become president, a candidate must obtain 270 electoral votes.
A president can win the electoral college without winning the popular vote. This has happened four times in American history, twice in the 19th century and twice in this century. Trump lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton, but prevailed in the electoral college in 2016. Republican George W. Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 but defeated Democrat Al Gore.
What happens if the electoral vote is a tie?
If the candidates tie with 269 electors each, the election goes to the House of Representatives. Each state can cast one vote for president and at least two-thirds of the house must be present to vote.
The last time the House of Representatives decided a presidential election was in 1824, when it elected John Quincy Adams.
Why are swing states so important?
While there are voters of many parties in each state, and those aligned with none, most states have a comfortable majority of Republicans or Democrats.
In California, for example, 46% of registered voters are Democrats, compared to nearly 25% Republicans and nearly 22% of voters who declare no partisan preference, as well as 7% of other voters. With voter registration numbers like those, the Democratic presidential candidate is almost certain to win the popular vote and, as a result, the state's electors.
However, in the seven swing states (Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan) the numbers are much closer, so the popular vote may be reduced to a very small margin.
In 2020, for example, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by 80,555 votes over Trump, winning all of the state's electors and securing the presidency. Biden won some states by even smaller margins, such as Arizona, where he beat Trump by just over 10,000 votes.
When are voters certified?
Electors will meet in their respective states on December 17 to cast their votes for president and vice president. Their votes are recorded on a voting certificate, which is then sent to Congress.
On January 6, a joint session of Congress is held to certify the electoral votes. As president of the Senate, the vice president presides over the joint session and announces the official count. In 2020, Vice President Mike Pence served in this role, despite objections from Trump and a mob that stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to disrupt the election certification.
The president-elect takes office on January 20.
Why do we have an electoral college?
When the Founding Fathers were writing the Constitution, they created the electoral college process as a compromise between those who wanted Congress to elect the president and those who wanted to leave it in the hands of the people.
Some activist groups, such as Making Every Vote Count, have been advocating for ending the process by passing a constitutional amendment. Rachelle Chong, one of the group's spokespersons, cited a 2023 Pew Research Center study that found that 63% of American adults want the presidency to be decided by popular vote.
“The way a democracy works should be one person, one vote, right?” she said.
