Americans elect their president by indirect popular vote every four years. This videographic explains how the electoral system works. VIDEOGRAPHIC
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00:00Americans elect their president by indirect popular vote every four years.
00:10The vote is held at the same time as elections for the House of Representatives and a third
00:15of the Senate.
00:16The election takes place on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, which will be
00:20November the 5th, 2024 for the next election.
00:24Americans will choose 538 Electoral College electors, distributed among the 50 states,
00:29who then elect the future president.
00:31To win the election, a candidate has to gain an absolute majority, or 270, of the Electoral
00:37College votes.
00:38Each state has as many Electoral College electors as members in the House of Representatives
00:43and the Senate.
00:44California, the most populous state, has 54.
00:47The smaller states, like Wyoming and the capital, Washington, have only three, the minimum.
00:53The winning candidate in each state takes all the Electoral College votes in that state,
00:58except Maine and Nebraska, which distribute them proportionally.
01:03With this system, the states which are not clearly dominated by the Democrats or the
01:07Republicans are crucial to the result.
01:09They are called swing states, the key states which can change from one party to the other
01:14and have an impact on the election result.
01:17The list of swing states changes with each election.