The US Election - what happens now?

[lysander]

Can someone explain to me how the votes are cast and counted in the Presidential election please? Are the votes counted by state so that the candidate who gets the most state's votes wins? If not, what?

[Mr Pot]

each state is to be won but depending on that state and the demographics regarding populas and registered Reps, Dems and undecided have the most points and therefore the most wanted by the two candidates, these are the swing states

[barbaro]

Can someone explain to me how the votes are cast and counted in the Presidential election please? Are the votes counted by state so that the candidate who gets the most state's votes wins? If not, what?

Any voter can vote for any candidate of any party.

In each state, the candidate with the most votes (regardless of percentage wins), and gets the electoral votes for that entire state. State X, for example.

Example:

Joe Smith gets 45%, Anne Hanks gets 49%. 6% vote for 3rd party candidates, in state X.

Therefore, in state X, Anne Hanks get all of the electoral votes for state X. Say, 20 Electoral votes, for example.

Joe Smith gets 0
3rd party gets 0


*note: in 2 or more states they give out the electoral votes based upon the percentage of the vote (e.g. in Colorado).

So, in this situaion, Joe Smith could get 8, Anne Hanks 12, 3rd party 0.


The candidate that breaks 270 EVs, wins.

[Bugs]

The election takes place on the first Tuesday, following the first Monday of November. The votes tallied on a state-wide basis. Then generally speaking the candidate that secures the majority of the votes from an individual state gets 100% of that states electoral votes. There are two states (Main and Nebraska) that do a type of proportional allotting of their electoral votes – thus the electoral votes in those states can end up split between candidates.

The real selection of the winner is determined via the voting of the electoral college. Each state is allotted an equal number of electoral representatives as they have members of the US congress (each states have two senators, and a certain number of members of the house of representatives based upon population). The electoral representatives from each state is suppose to vote based upon the popular vote as outlined above (ie all electoral representatives for most states (except Main and Nebraska) vote for the candidate that gets the majority vote in their state). In order to win a candidate must secure at least 270 electoral votes (out of a possible 538).

If any one candidate fails to secure the necessary 270 electoral votes then the House of Representatives gets to elect the winner (from the top three vote getters). Each state delegation in the House gets a single vote to cast in this deciding vote.

One note in regard to third party candidates: In many states it is very hard to get on the state ballot, and thus if one wants to vote for a particular third party candidate they might have to do a “write-in” vote. This is where the individual has to physically write in the name of the candidate they wish to vote for because their candidate was not able to meet the state’s requirements to get on the ballot. I am not aware (but there might be) of any state that does not allow a person to cast a “write-in” vote.

The electoral college can be a bit confusing so here are some links to help folks get a better understanding:
Electoral College (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NARA | Federal Register | U.S. Electoral College