US Election 2024: Few Hours Away; Key Details Here!

With time for the actual voting in the United States now only hours away, voters are in place and ready to cast their vote on Tuesday, November 5. While other people entered the race for the White House, one was most concerned with the big fight: Republican Donald Trump versus Democrat Kamala Harris. As the time for the start of elections begins, Trump and Harris will be wrapping up their respective campaigns in just a few hours more. Among the total eligible voters in the U.S. population of 270 million, as many as 68 million citizens have voted in the early voting process.

Why Should Elections Be Conducted During November?
U.S. presidential elections are held on the first Tuesday of November in every fourth year, a tradition that was enacted by law in 1845. This became the norm because it was largely an agricultural society: November was when the harvesting period ended, and travelling conditions became easy. In the case of the elections before the enactment of this law, elections were carried out during different times within different states.

Polling Times
Polling in the United States is state-specific and will be conducted between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time on Tuesday, November 5. In Indian Standard Time, this means that it will be between 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on the same day.

When Will the Results Come Out?
Preliminary results will be declared immediately after the closure of polling. However, if the contest between Trump and Harris is close, it will take one or two days to declare the final result. The Electoral College process has to be completed before swearing in a new president on January 20, 2025. If the date falls on a Sunday, the swearing-in ceremony will be held on the following day, that is, on January 21.

Current opinion polls show that Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump by a small margin, but still, the outcome is unclear.

Knowing How People Vote
Candidates need to win popular votes in all 50 states to become president. Citizens vote directly for the candidate of their choice, but the outcome of the votes is converted into electoral votes provided according to the people of a particular state. This group is called the Electoral College and has 538 electoral votes. A president-elect must garner at least 270 electoral votes to take up the presidency.

For example, California has 54 electoral votes, the highest, and Texas, with 40. On the other end of the scale are the less populated states with only three electoral votes as in Wyoming. The elections focus on electoral votes to ensure that winning popular votes is not the best way to ensure an election but to win the required electoral votes.

Also read: Law and Order Deteriorating in AP: Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan Slams Home Minister Anitha