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2020 U.S. elections
How can candidates contest the results? And why do some votes count more than others?
These are some of your key questions about the American elections answered.
“Could Donald Trump try to challenge the election results?” – Basel, Israel
Yes. Both campaigns have said they are already preparing for legal disputes after the elections.
They have the right to require a recount in most states,
generally if the result is tight.
There has been an increase in voting by mail this year, and it is also possible that the validity of these ballots could be challenged in court.
These lawsuits could go all the way to the US Supreme Court, the highest legal authority in the US.
This happened in 2000, when the Supreme Court stopped a recount in Florida and ruled in favor of Republican George W. Bush, who became president.
“What if it’s a tie?” Chinga, China
There are 538 electoral votes at stake, with a fixed number of electors representing each state roughly based on the size of its population.
This means that a tie with 269 votes each is possible, although it is highly unlikely.
If no candidate gets a majority of votes in the electoral college, it would be up to the United States Congress to decide.
It would be the members of Congress elected in the 2020 elections who would assume this responsibility.
The House of Representatives would vote to decide the president, and each state delegation would have one vote – a majority of 26 is needed for a candidate to become president.
The Senate would elect the vice president and all 100 senators would vote.
“What influence does the national vote have on the way the electoral college votes?” – Caroline Bonwitt, Gloucestershire, UK
Presidents of the United States are not decided by national popular vote, but by winning in enough states.
The winner in each state gets the support of several voters based roughly on their population.
These electors meet a few weeks after Election Day, forming the electoral college, to vote and officially nominate the next president.
To win the White House 270 electoral votes are needed.
“What makes the votes of some states count more than others?” – S Robertson, Sussex, UK
Candidates tend to campaign in states where the outcome is uncertain, so people say that votes in these states “count more.”
These places are known as battlefields or transition states.
The US electoral system means that in all but two states, the margin of victory does not matter, as whoever gets the most votes wins all the electoral votes offered in that state.
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In states where they are almost guaranteed to vote a certain way, like California for Democrats or Alabama for Republicans, candidates have less incentive to campaign there.
They will put their best effort into a handful of close races, such as in Florida and Pennsylvania, targeting voters who could go either way.
“What happens in Nebraska and Maine where the electoral college works differently?” – John, Surrey, UK
Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that split their electoral votes.
In all other states, the winner takes it all, whether the margin is one or a million votes.
Instead, Maine and Nebraska divide their electoral votes, four and five respectively, based on the proportion of the popular vote each candidate receives.
These states assign two electoral votes to the winner statewide and then one vote to the winner in each congressional district (two in Maine and three in Nebraska).
“If mail-in ballots that are counted several days after the election change the final count of a state from Trump to Biden or vice versa, what is the protocol for re-announcing a winner?” – Charlie Etheridge, Kent, UK
There is no legal requirement to announce a winner on election night; This is done as a projection of the main US media.
The full count is never completed overnight, but there are usually enough votes to confirm a winner.
These are unofficial results that are certified only a few weeks later, when confirmed by state officials.
This year, the American media will likely be more cautious about calling out a winner, as there are more mail ballots and they take longer to count.
This could mean that the leader on election night in some states could end up losing once all the votes are counted, including the postal ballots.
“How long can the United States go without meeting its next president?” – also from Charlie Etheridge, Kent, UK
The electoral college, whose job it is to formally nominate the next president, meets on December 14 this year.
Each state proposes electors for its winning candidate.
If election results are still contested in certain states and they cannot decide which candidate to give their constituents to, then it will be up to the United States Congress to intervene.
The Constitution of the United States imposes a final term: the term of the president (and vice president) expires on January 20 at noon.
If Congress has not been able to choose the winner by then, there is a line of succession established in the law.
First in line is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, currently Nancy Pelosi, followed by the second-highest-ranking member of the Senate, currently Charles Grassley.
This has never happened before so it is unclear how, in these exceptional circumstances, it would work in practice.
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