The presidential race is the process of selecting a president and vice president of the United States. The winner of the election is determined by an electoral college vote. An absolute majority is required (270 or more electoral votes) for victory. A person may not serve more than two terms as president.
The electoral process begins with a series of primaries and caucuses held throughout the country. These are organized by state and local governments, and the political parties. The results of these elections determine which candidates are pre-listed on the voting ballot. The final presidential nominee from each party is officially announced after their national convention. The candidates also choose a running mate, usually a vice presidential candidate.
Because most states have a winner-takes-all system, this encourages presidential candidates to focus exponentially more time and money on the few so-called “swing states” in which a candidate does not have overwhelming support. As a result, the races in these states often become neck and neck.
Polls conducted shortly before the election indicated that Harris and Trump were neck and neck both nationally and in the key swing states. However, when vote counting began on Election Day, Trump was declared the winner of both the national popular vote and the projected Electoral College vote.
