Here’s all to know about the 2024 US presidential election

With few hours to the United States presidential elections, here’s  a simple guide to everything that will be happening tomorrow and afterwards

When is the US presidential election?

The 2024 election is on Tuesday, 5 November 2024. The winner will serve a term of four years in the White House, starting in January 2025.

The president has the power to pass some laws on their own but mostly he or she must work with Congress to pass legislation.

On the world stage, the US leader has  freedom to represent the country abroad and to conduct foreign policy.

Read also: How the US election could shake Nigeria’s stock and bond markets

Who can vote?

In the US, citizens must meet some very basic eligibility criteria in order to vote. They must be a US citizen, a resident of the state where they registered to vote and 18 years or older.

Voter eligibility can vary from state to state, particularly when it comes to criminal convictions. For example, individuals who have a criminal record may face restrictions in certain states, including losing the right to vote permanently.

It is estimated that there are more than 230 million people who are eligible to vote in the United States. But approximately only 160 million of them are registered voters, and not all of them will actually vote.

Read also: US election: Ballots destroyed in Oregon, Washington

Who are the candidates and how were they nominated?

The two main parties nominated a presidential candidate by holding a series of votes called state primaries and caucuses, where people choose who they want to lead the party in a general election.

In the Republican Party, Donald Trump won his party’s support with a massive lead over his rivals. He became the official Republican nominee at a party convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Trump chose Ohio senator JD Vance to be his vice-presidential running mate.

For the Democrats, Vice President Kamala Harris joined the race after President Joe Biden dropped out and no other Democrats stood against her. Her running mate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

How does the US election work?

US politics is dominated by two parties, the broadly centre-left and liberal Democrats and the right-wing and conservative Republicans.

The Democrats are the liberal political party, with an agenda defined largely by its push for civil rights, a broad social safety net and measures to address climate change.

The Republicans are the conservative political party in the US. Also known as the GOP, or the Grand Old Party, it has stood for lower taxes, shrinking the size of the government, gun rights and tighter restrictions on immigration and abortion.

How is voting done ?

Each state has a certain number of  electoral college votes partly based on population. There are a total of 538 votes available, and the winner is the candidate that wins 270 or more electoral votes.

The winner is not the person who gets the most votes across the country. Instead, both candidates compete to win contests held across the 50 states.

All but two states have a winner-takes-all rule, so whichever candidate wins the highest number of votes is awarded all of the state’s electoral college votes.

Most states lean heavily towards one party or the other, so the focus is usually on a dozen or so states where either of them could win. These are known as the battleground or swing states.

If no candidate wins 270 electoral votes, a quick election occurs. The House elects the president, with each state casting one vote, and the Senate elects the vice president. A House candidate needs a majority (26 states) to win.

Who else is being elected in the elections?

All of the attention will be on who wins the presidency, but voters will also be choosing new members of Congress – where laws are passed – when they fill in their ballots.

Congress consists of the House of Representatives, where all 435 seats are up for election, and the Senate, where 34 seats are being contested.

Republicans currently control the House, which initiates spending plans. Democrats are in charge of the Senate, which votes on key appointments in government.

These two chambers pass laws and can act as a check on White House plans if the controlling party in either chamber disagrees with the president.

When will we know who has won the election?

Historically, a winner would be announced on the night of or morning after the election, but in 2020 it took a few days to count all the votes.

The media will report real-time results, with results coming in from the Eastern Time Zone first. Final tallies may not be available immediately, particularly with the increased volume of mail-in and absentee ballots. In some cases, states have laws allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted even if they arrive later. This process can lead to delays in certain states, particularly those with narrow margins.

The period after the election is known as the transition, if there is a change of president.

This gives the new administration time to appoint cabinet ministers and make plans for the new term.

The president is officially sworn into office in January in a ceremony known as the inauguration, held on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC.