On Tuesday, November 3, the United States will vote to decide its next president after one of the most chaotic campaigns in history amid social and political unrest across the country.
As the US grapples with the economic and health crisis of the coronavirus pandemic and the looming threat of climate change, voters are choosing between two candidates to steer one of the world's major powers through an increasingly uncertain future.
President Donald Trump, voted in four years ago as the 45th US president, is the candidate for the Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP).
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who served as the 47th US vice president alongside President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, is the nominee for the Democratic Party.
About Election Day
What is the US election date and time in Australia?
The 2020 US presidential election is held on Tuesday, November 3. The first polls close at 7pm local time on the east coast, which is 11am AEDT on Wednesday, November 4 (meaning that for those watching in Australia, most of the action will take place during the day on Wednesday).
All polls will close by 9pm EST on November 3, which is 1pm AEDT on Wednesday, November 4.
How to watch the election in Australia
You can watch on Channel Nine from 11am, follow the coverage live on 9news.com.au via the website or the app or stream live via 9Now.
You can also find all 9News' digital coverage of the US election so far here.
How often are US elections?
The US holds a presidential election every four years.
There is a federal election every two years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in which every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection — and, according to the White House, usually about one-third of the Senate.
When will US election results be announced
A shift to mail voting (partly due to coronavirus safety concerns) is increasing the chances that Americans will not know the winner of the 2020 presidential race on election night, November 3. But that doesn't mean the results will be flawed or fraudulent, despite fears raised by President Donald Trump.
Election officials in some key battleground states have warned that it might take days to count the votes given what they expect will be a surge of ballots sent by mail.
What will we know on the night?
Most votes cast in person should be counted on the day, according to the New York Times, which says states that are able to process mail ballots early should be able to provide near-complete tallies on the night.
But each state has different rules on when it's allowed to actually start counting those ballots, which means results coming in at very different times — especially in critical battleground states where laws prevent early ballot processing — perhaps days or even weeks after Election Day.
On the night of the election itself, news outlets traditionally 'call' the results of each state if and when the tallies indicate a clear winner, but record numbers of early votes this year mean the potential for big shifts if in-person vote tallies are upended by the counting of mail-in ballots.
Another complication: Nationwide delivery delays at the US Postal Service are sparking fears that ballots might not arrive in time to be counted. Republicans, including Trump's campaign, have been filing lawsuits to stop election officials from counting ballots that are delivered after Election Day.
Follow the US election polls:
The system
How is the US president elected?
The successful candidate needs to win 270 or more out of the 538 electoral college votes.
What is the electoral college?
States are each allocated electoral college votes based mainly on population, number of congressional districts and Senate seats. Whichever candidate receives the most votes in the state gets that state's 'electoral votes'.
This is why winning the popular vote does not always translate to winning the presidency — which is why Hillary Clinton lost the election to Mr Trump in 2016, despite receiving more individual votes.
What happens if no winner is declared in a presidential election?
A presidential election hasn't been left in limbo since 2000, when ballot irregularities in Florida led to weeks of chaos and court fights.
Could Donald Trump challenge the election result?
If it were simply a matter of the president denying the reality of an undisputed election result, Mr Biden could order the Secret Service to carry Mr Trump out of the Oval Office if need be.
But because the American election system is so complex, there are many avenues for a politician to refuse to leave office. Constitutional law professor Aziz Huq from the University of Chicago told 9News.com.au the result would need to be close to call it into dispute.
See what happens if Donald Trump refuses to concede
Can presidents serve three terms?
The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1951, says that no president can be elected more than twice, or sit for longer than two terms (eight years).
The only US president to occupy a third term was Franklin D Roosevelt during World War II; but even given the exceptional circumstances, his decision was highly controversial, and a driving force behind the amendment.
(So no, without another amendment to the constitution, a president such as Mr Obama who has already served two terms cannot run for president again.)
What are the requirements to be president?
The Library of Congress notes that the rules have remained the same since George Washington became America's first president. All US presidential candidates must:
- Be a natural born citizen of the United States
- A resident for 14 years
- Aged 35 or older
Voting
What are the US swing states?
A swing state, also known as a battleground or purple state (Republicans: red, Democrats: blue), is any state where support is more or less evenly divided between the parties, meaning a small swing in voting either way could tip the balance — and the election — towards the Democrats or the Republicans.
In 2020, eight swing states could decide the next president:
- Arizona
- Florida
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
Why are US swing states important?
Swing states can change in each election, but this year, according to the Telegraph, they are all states where Mr Trump narrowly beat Ms Clinton in 2016 and so are crucial for him to win if he wants to hold his position.
The New York Times has said that if Mr Biden wins Florida and North Carolina, both of which are expected to count votes relatively early, Mr Trump will have "no realistic path to victory".
Do non-swing states matter?
Voters in almost every state have a chance to influence both national and local decisions through down-ballot races.
Voters in two-thirds of the states will be electing a US senator. Each one of those races matters for control of the chamber, because Republicans currently hold only a slim majority of 53 of the 100 seats.
The importance of controlling the Senate was evident in the confirmation hearings for Mr Trump's nominee to the US Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. Because they control the Senate, Republicans were pressing to quickly confirm the conservative jurist. She would replace the late liberal icon, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Democrats were virtually powerless to stop it.
Voters in 11 states also will be electing governors, who will shape the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic and other contentious issues, including abortion, crime, climate change and racial inequalities.
How does the election affect control of congress?
The makeup of Congress will be determined by the general election, with both parties needing a majority to control the House or Senate.
Democrats seem to have a good chance at winning a Senate majority in 2020, while their control of the House is not in serious doubt.
Republicans hold the Senate 53-47. Democrats must gain at least three seats to win control, or four if Mr Trump is reelected and Vice President Mike Pence can break a tie.
In the 435-member House, Democrats are the ones defending the majority. Republicans currently hold 197 House seats and need 218 to win control. There are also four open seats that had been held by Republicans until they resigned and left office earlier this year.
Who can vote in America?
Some basic rules according to the US Government:
You can vote if:
- You are a US citizen
- You meet your state's residency requirements (even if you are homeless)
- You are 18 on or before Election Day
- You have registered to vote by your state deadline
You can't vote if:
- You are not a citizen
- You have been convicted of a felony, in some cases — though rules are complex, vary state by state, and change regularly
- You are mentally incapacitated, in some cases
- (For the president) You are a US citizen in a US territory
How does early voting work?
All states allow some form of early voting, be it by casting votes in person at polling places, voting by mail, or both. But each state has its own rules and timelines on when this occurs. Some started in September. Some didn't start until mid-October, or even closer to Election Day on November 3.
Just as there are 50 different timelines for early voting, there are 50 different ones for how the votes are counted. Some only allow it to begin on Election Day itself, which can lead to a chaotic and lengthy count.
That's the process in several key swing states. Democrats fear this will delay the count of mail-in ballots, expected to heavily favour Democrats, and give Mr Trump a misleading early lead that he could seize on to declare the election over.
What is poll watching?
Mr Trump has been urging his supporters to go the polls and "watch very carefully," raising concerns about possible voter intimidation.
Monitoring the votes at polling places is allowed in most states, but rules vary and it's not a free-for-all. States have established rules, in part, to avoid any hint that observers will harass or intimidate voters. There is a long history of whites intimidating and preventing Blacks from voting in the South. And the Republican Party had been prohibited from employing poll monitors until recently because of its own history of using them as a strategy for intimidation.
Generally, the terms poll watchers, poll monitors and citizen observers are interchangeable, and they can be partisan or nonpartisan.
What happens next
What is the difference between president elect and president?
The president-elect is the title given to the winner of the presidential election before they take office. Until that time, the existing president is still known as the 'president'.
When does the winner take office?
The inauguration for the next elected president of the United States is scheduled for Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
So in theory, if Mr Biden won the election, Mr Trump would have 78 more days in office between Election Day and Mr Biden's swearing in.
Elections in history
What was the closest US presidential election?
In 2000, after a tense recount in Florida, President George W Bush won the election by 5 electoral college votes — though Al Gore won the popular vote.
In 1876, Democrat Samuel Tilden beat Republican Rutherford Hayes in both the popular vote, and the electoral college — but 19 electoral college votes were hotly disputed by four states, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina and Oregon. A special commission of 15 people was created, which awarded Mr Hayes the election by a single electoral college vote.
Has there ever been a tied election?
Yes. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received an even number of electoral college votes, a stalemate decided (eventually) in favour of Mr Jefferson by the House of Representatives.
Has the US ever had a single president?
Only one: James Buchanan, the 15th US president, who served immediately before the civil war, from 1857 to 1861. According to the White House, he was "tall, stately, (and) stiffly formal in the high stock he wore around his jowls".
How many presidents have died in office?
Eight. Each one was succeeded by the vice president.
- William Henry Harrison
- Zachary Taylor
- Abraham Lincoln (assassinated)
- James A Garfield (assassinated)
- William McKinley (assassinated)
- Warren G Harding
- Franklin D Roosevelt
- John F Kennedy (assassinated)
EXPLAINER: What happens if a US presidential candidate dies?
Youngest US president
Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest person to become the president, at 42, after Mr McKinley was killed. JFK was the youngest elected president, at 43.
If Mr Biden wins, he will be 78 when he is sworn in — beating Mr Trump's record (70) as the oldest person to become president. If Mr Trump wins, he will be 74 when he takes his new term.
– Reported with Associated Press
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