The upcoming US presidential election (happening next tuesday) brings an unexpected twist - Kamala Harris steps-up as the Democratic nominee facing-off against Donald Trump. This shift comes after Joe Bidens withdrawal following a not-so-good first debate performance
The much-awaited election day falls on nov-5 with the winner starting their four-year term from jan-20 (which includes picking members for both houses of Congress too). The new president will move into the White House about two-and-half months after election day
The path to victory runs through several make-or-break states; here are the main ones:
- Pennsylvania: carrying 19 electoral-college votes
- Arizona: needs to flip Republican
- Georgia: another must-win for Trump
- Wisconsin: traditionally a swing state
- Nevada: narrowly went blue last time
The election-day process works like this: most folks head to voting places (though many send mail-in ballots or vote early). States start counting votes around 7pm local time; but dont expect quick results - last time it took about four days to figure out who won
Vote counting starts in the east coast states while places like Alaska are still voting (due to different time-zones). The final official numbers take months but news outlets usually “call“ the winner way before that based on vote trends and math calculations