By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) -The winner of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election will govern a nation of greater than 330 million folks, however the contest will virtually definitely be determined by simply tens of hundreds of voters – a tiny fraction of the populace – in a handful of states.
That is as a result of solely seven of the 50 states are really aggressive this 12 months, with the remaining all comfortably Democratic or Republican, in line with public opinion polls.
Amongst these seven battlegrounds, Pennsylvania, probably the most populous, stands out because the almost certainly state to find out whether or not Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump is the following president.
The candidates’ methods mirror this actuality, with the overwhelming majority of their advert spending and marketing campaign occasions directed at these seven states that swing between political events.
Here’s a nearer take a look at why the U.S. presidential race might be determined by a small subset of People:
WHY ISN’T THE ELECTION DECIDED BY THE NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE?
In contrast to elections for different federal candidates and statewide places of work, the presidential contest just isn’t solely primarily based on the favored vote. As a substitute, below a system generally known as the Electoral Faculty, the profitable candidate in every state, in addition to Washington, D.C., receives that state’s electoral votes, that are largely primarily based on inhabitants.
A candidate must win a majority of the nation’s 538 electoral votes, or 270, which is feasible even when shedding the general nationwide vote, as Trump did when he gained the White Home in 2016.
Within the occasion of a 269-269 tie, the U.S. Home of Representatives chooses the winner, with every state’s delegation getting a single vote — a situation that analysts say would seemingly favor former President Trump.
If each state except for the battlegrounds votes as anticipated, that might give Vice President Harris 226 electoral votes and Trump 219, with the remaining 93 up for grabs.
WHICH STATES ARE CONSIDERED IN PLAY?
There are seven states that might swing both method on Tuesday: the Rust Belt trio of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the Solar Belt quartet of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin had served as a “blue wall” for Democratic candidates for a technology. However, in 2016, Trump narrowly carried all three, fueling his upset victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
4 years later, Joe Biden gained the presidency after reclaiming Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania for Democrats, whereas additionally notching stunning victories in Georgia and Arizona, two states that had traditionally voted Republican.
HOW CLOSE IS THIS ELECTION?
As shut because it will get.
As of Sunday, in line with a New York Occasions public ballot tracker, all seven battleground states had been in a digital lifeless warmth. Trump held a 3 percentage-point lead in Arizona; the opposite six swing states had been all inside a degree on common, the tracker confirmed.
The race seems even nearer than the 2020 contest. That 12 months, a shift of solely 43,000 votes in three states – lower than 1/3 of a proportion level of all voters nationwide – from Biden to Trump would have been sufficient for Trump to win reelection.
WHY IS PENNSYLVANIA SO IMPORTANT?
The only reply is that the state has 19 electoral votes, greater than every other battleground.
Pennsylvania is extensively seen as important to both Harris’ or Trump’s possibilities of profitable the White Home and is taken into account the almost certainly “tipping point” state – the one which carries a candidate previous 269 electoral votes.
If Harris loses Pennsylvania, she would want to hold both North Carolina or Georgia – two states which have voted Democratic a complete of 3 times within the final 4 many years – to have any likelihood of prevailing.
Conversely, if Trump loses Pennsylvania, he would want to win both Wisconsin or Michigan, which have solely voted for a Republican as soon as for the reason that Nineteen Eighties – for Trump eight years in the past.
Each campaigns have handled Pennsylvania as a very powerful state, with Harris and Trump spending extra time there than in every other. The campaigns and their allies had spent $279.3 million in broadcast promoting in Pennsylvania by means of Oct. 7, greater than $75 million forward of second-place Michigan, in line with the monitoring agency AdImpact.
WHY IS A SINGLE DISTRICT IN NEBRASKA DRAWING SO MUCH ATTENTION?
Forty-eight states award their electoral votes on a winner-take-all foundation, however two states, Nebraska and Maine, allocate one electoral vote to the winner in every congressional district. In 2020, Biden gained one in all Nebraska’s 5 votes, whereas Trump took one in all Maine’s 4 votes.
The only electoral vote in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, centered on Omaha, is seen as aggressive, although impartial analysts favor Harris to win it. Each events have spent hundreds of thousands of {dollars} airing advertisements within the Omaha market.
That lone vote may very well be essential. If Harris wins Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin whereas Trump takes the opposite 4 battlegrounds – a wholly believable final result – Nebraska’s 2nd District would decide whether or not the election ends in a tie or whether or not Harris prevails.
