Squiz Shortcuts - US Election Series: How Presidential elections work

A Shortcuts series on the US Presidential Election

On 5 November, Americans will elect a new president… It’s less than a month away, so for the next few weeks, we’re dedicating Squiz Shortcuts to get you up to speed. So in this short series, we’ll cover the big issues on voters’ minds, where the campaign has landed just before election day - and then we’ll get you across the result. But to start with, we’re covering off how US presidential elections work…

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Geez this election has snuck up…
Time is flying by… But it sure has been an eventful few months. President Joe Biden stepped aside to allow Kamala Harris to run for the Democrats after he lost the support of his party when his age became a factor following his debate with Donald Trump. 

And it hasn’t been a quiet time for Donald Trump either…
Nope… There have been 2 assassination attempts on the Republican candidate - that’s something that hasn’t happened in 40 years. And let’s not forget he became the first presidential nominee to be convicted of a felony… 

There have been a lot of big elections this year, so why are you covering this one in a special series?
There is almost no area of the world where American leadership doesn't matter. 

That’s true…
And when you think about it - a healthy US economy with fair and free trade matters to us. How America sees its role in keeping the world’s powers in check matters a lot - particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East. Its policies on dealing with China as a rising economic and security power matter a lot to Australia. And that’s just the starting point.

I get it - who wins the election matters… So how many people have a say in deciding who will be the next prez?
About 244 million Americans will be eligible to vote this year. The 2020 election saw a record turnout of 66.6% of eligible voters. So if we see turnout that high again, more than 162 million ballots will be cast by the end of Tuesday, 5 November.

What’s the criteria to be president?
You’ve got to be over 35yo and be a “natural born citizen” - that means you were either born in the US or were born overseas to US citizens - and you also have to have lived in America for at least 14 years. And unlike in Australia, there are no rules about blocking someone with a criminal record. You also don’t need any prior political experience to get the top job… 

What are some other differences between American elections and ours?
A big difference is that Americans don’t have to vote. So one of the biggest challenges for anyone running for president is to get people to register to vote and then to actually vote… When Taylor Swift publicly put her support behind Harris, it was a call out mainly to get people to vote. 

It doesn’t work that way in Australia, right?
No, our national leader is elected by their party peers from the parliament. In the US, it is feasible that a political outsider could be elected. That’s what was said about Donald Trump when he ran successfully in 2016. 

Who are the main political parties?
It’s a 2-party race between the Republicans and the Democrats. Sometimes a third-party or independent candidate runs for president, too, but they typically aren’t successful. 

What do the Republicans stand for?
To make it very simple, the Republican Party (sometimes called the GOP or Grand Old Party) is right-leaning and promotes conservative policies. It’s all about small government, lower taxes, and upholding gun rights. And in recent times, it’s advocated for tighter restrictions on immigration and abortion. 

And the Democrats?
Democrats typically hold more liberal views - and that’s liberal as in small ‘L’ rather than the more conservative-leaning Liberal Party we know here. The Democrats are about providing a social safety net, protecting reproductive rights, and taking measures to address climate change.

How does the vote actually work?
When American voters cast their ballots, they’re not directly electing the president… The US has an in-direct democracy, meaning the president is actually elected by a process called the Electoral College.

Oh boy, here we go…
This is the meaty stuff - but it’s crucial to the discussion because of what we know about what’s happened in the immediate past and what could happen in this election… In short, this is the race to get to 270 votes.

Why 270?
Across the US, there are 538 total electors that make up the Electoral College, with a certain number allocated to each state. The number of electors each state has is determined by the number of representatives it has in Congress. 

So bigger states get more electors?
Exactly. So California, which has a big population, has 55 votes - but Delaware, which is much smaller, only gets 3 votes. And to win the state’s electors, it’s a ‘majority wins’ rule in 48 of 50 states. That means the candidate with the most votes wins all of that state’s electoral college votes. And to win the election, they have to get at least 270.

Got it. Can someone win the most actual votes across the country but still lose the election because of the Electoral College?
Yep. This is what happened to Hillary Clinton in 2016 when Trump won office. It’s hugely controversial in the US… 

So what are the rules for voting in the election?
That’s a tricky one to answer because the ways of voting for the electors is determined by each state legislature, not by the federal government. 

That’s confusing…
Well, it’s worked that way for a while but you’d remember that the Trump campaign’s focus on electoral laws and processes with their claims that the 2020 election was ‘stolen’ was a flashpoint last time around. Long story short, expect a lot of scrutiny on the differences in how this election is delivered, particularly in the swing states.

Remind me what swing states are…
They are the battlegrounds where this upcoming election will be won or lost, depending on what side you’re on. We’re talking about Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. 

Why are they so important?
In the last election, Joe Biden won all but one of those - Trump won North Carolina. But we’re talking about tiny margins. In Arizona, Biden won by 10,000 votes, Wisconsin it was 20,000 - so when we’re talking about an election with more than 160 million votes cast, you can see why these states get so much attention.

I bet those states are getting hammered with ads…
Recent data shows TV, digital and radio platforms across those 7 swing states have accounted for nearly $930 million out of a total of more than $1.1 billion spent on presidential campaign ads since the end of July. That’s about half the value of Australia’s entire ad market for a year… 

So where are we going next?
Up next, we’ll cover where the candidates stand on the big domestic issues impacting the US like cost of living, law and order and reproductive rights. 

Fun…
For sure - it’s an opportunity to get your policy wonk on. 

Two recent Shortcuts to get you started