Electoral college votes
Electoral college votes
First results expected after 18.00 EST (15.00 PDT or 23.00 GMT)
How does the US election work?
The winner of the election is determined through a system called the electoral college.
What is the electoral college and how does it work?
Each of the 50 states, plus Washington DC, is given a number of electoral college votes, adding up to a total of 538 votes. More populous states get more electoral college votes than smaller ones.
A candidate needs to win 270 electoral college votes (50% plus one) to win the election.
In every state except two – Maine and Nebraska – the candidate that gets the most votes wins all of the state’s electoral college votes.
Electoral college votes correspond to electors from each state. These electors vote directly for the president, based on the results in the general election in their state. In early January, following the presidential election, Congress convenes in a joint session to count and certify the electoral votes.
How do people vote in the US election?
Elections in the US are administered by each state. Whether by mail-in ballots or voting in person on election day, people effectively vote in 51 mini-elections in the presidential election.
Due to the electoral college rules, a candidate can win the election without getting the most votes at the national level. This happened in 2016, when Trump won a majority of electoral college votes although more people voted for Hillary Clinton across the US.
A handful of races are run with a ranked choice voting system, whereby voters can rank candidates in their order of preference. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their supporters’ votes will be counted for their next choice. The Guardian has marked these elections where applicable above, and shows the results of the final result with redistributed votes.
How are the votes counted?
Vote verification and counting involves many processes to ensure oversight and security, and it runs before, during and after election day.
As soon as the polls close, local precincts count the ballots cast in person on election day, alongside any absentee or mail-in ballots that have been verified. Processes vary by state, but typically this involves verifying mail-in voter signatures and ensuring ballots are properly filled out. Provisional ballots, used when there are questions about a voter’s eligibility, are set aside for later verification.
Verified ballots are then counted, usually digitally but in some cases manually. The counts are then transmitted to county election offices for aggregation and verification.
This process involves thousands of local election officials who are either appointed or elected, depending on the state. Partisan and nonpartisan observers can monitor vote counting.
State election authorities then compile the county-level results and, after another round of verification, certify the final results.
Results are communicated through media – the Guardian receives results data from the Associated Press.
Official results can take days or weeks to be fully finalised. This is often because of the verification process of absentee, mail-in and provisional ballots. In some states, mail-in ballots can be received and counted several days after election day. High voter turnouts and potential recounts in close races can also slow down results publication.
How are the results reported?
The election results on this page are reported by the Associated Press (AP). AP “call” the winner in a state when they determine that the trailing candidate has no path to victory. This can happen before 100% of votes in a state have been counted.
Estimates for the total vote in each state are also provided by AP. The numbers update throughout election night and in the following days, as more data on voter turnout becomes available.
Illustrations by Sam Kerr. Cartograms by Pablo Gutiérrez.