MEXICO CITY, October 25 (EL UNIVERSAL).- In the United States, the candidate for whom people vote the most does not win. Its electoral system is complex and presidential voting is indirect.
Each of the 50 states is represented by a number of electors equal to its congressional delegation (depending on its size and population, among other factors). There are 538 voters in total. To win the Electoral College, a candidate must win a majority, at least 270 or more, of the electoral votes.
California has the most, 54, while a handful of states, such as Wyoming, Alaska and North Dakota (and Washington, DC), have three.
For this election, 13 states gained or lost electoral votes following the 2020 census:
Texas won two votes; Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon each won one; California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia each lost one.
Pendulum states are those that could tilt to one side or the other; This year they are: Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Arizona has become a focal point for the immigration debate in the country. North Carolina borders Georgia and shares some of its main concerns, as does Arizona. One-third of Georgia’s population is African-American, one of the highest proportions of black residents in the country, and this demographic is believed to have been instrumental in Biden flipping the state in 2020.
Michigan has become a symbol of the national reaction to the president’s support for Israel during that country’s war in Gaza.
In Nevada, even though the US economy has shown strong growth and job creation since Biden took office, the post-Covid recovery has been slower here than elsewhere.
In Pennsylvania, the economy is an issue of utmost importance. The state was decisive in the 2020 election, as it backed Biden. He has often spoken of his connection to the working-class town of Scranton, where he grew up.
Wisconsin also chose the winning presidential candidate in both 2016 and 2020, by a margin of just over 20,000 votes each time.
If Trump wins a state, he takes that place’s electoral votes. But it doesn’t always take everyone. In some cases, states determine that they take a proportional share.
Thus, even if a candidate wins more popular votes, if the state where he won has fewer electoral votes, he may lose to his rival.
This is what happened in 2016, when Democrat Hillary Clinton obtained 2.8 million more popular votes than Republican Donald Trump. However, he won in states with the most electoral votes and achieved victory.
Also in 2000, Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore despite the latter beating him by half a million in the popular vote.
