A presidential race that was close to a dead heat a month ago is a virtual tie now as voters head to the polls. Both Harris and Trump have a chance to win the election with the help of swing states, but it will be hard for either candidate to reach the magic number of 270 electoral votes necessary to take the White House.
Political analysts say that the 2024 race has shifted since President Joe Biden’s poor performance in a televised debate with Trump accelerated calls for him to withdraw from the campaign and endorse Harris instead. But, the fundamentals of the race haven’t changed much.
There are many people who want to be president, and they have ideas about how the government should work. People with similar ideas usually belong to the same political party. Candidates from each party campaign through a series of primaries and caucuses to win the support of members of their party. The winners of these contests become delegates and attend conventions to choose a final nominee for the party’s presidential nomination.
In addition to choosing a president, Americans were voting for their members of Congress, including all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and six in the Senate. Both the House and the Senate are responsible for passing laws, and they can act as a check on a president’s plans if their members disagree with him or her. The majority of electoral votes go to the winner of each state’s congressional delegation. There are 538 electoral votes in all, and a majority of 270 is needed to win the presidency.