How does a candidate win the election? In the US, winning an election is technically down to "electors" - people who are the delegates to the electoral college. Selected by each state, they formally appoint the president and vice-president of the United States .

There are 538 electors allowed in each presidential election. The Democratic PartyThe left-leaning US political party. and Republican PartyAlso known as the Grand Old Party or GOP, it is one of the USA's two major political parties. Its first president was Abraham Lincoln. It sits on the right of the political spectrum. candidates are each trying to gain at least 270 electors - just over half of the 538 available - and win the presidency.

Does every state have an equal number of electors? No. Each state is appointed a precise number of electors based on population size. With 55, California is the state with the most votes. Since the winner "takes all", when a candidate wins the majority of the popular vote in California, they receive all 55 votes. Six small states, plus Washington DCThe USA's capital city, and the homes of the US government's three branches - the Capitol, the White House and the Supreme Court. , each have the minimum 3 votes.

This is why many candidates want to win states like Texas, Florida and New York. Put together, these three states add up to 96 electoral votes. Even if the opposing candidate won both DakotasThe collective term for North Dakota and South Dakota., Montana, Wyoming, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and West Virginia, they would only receive 31 votes.

Are larger states the only important ones? No. Winning larger states like California and Texas is important because they provide such a high number of votes. But candidates cannot afford to ignore smaller states - especially in a close election. This is because every electoral vote counts. As a result, candidates still have to pay attention to tiny states like Rhode Island and New Hampshire, as well as large states with smaller populations such as Alaska or Wyoming.

In this year's election, both candidates are focusing on gaining votes in every state possible, as it is set to be a close race.

What are battleground states? There are certain states that have a long history of voting for the same party. These are called "safe states".

However, there are some states that are unpredictable and can swing either way. These are known as "battleground" or "swing" states. Candidates focus on these states because they often become the deciders in the battle for election. 

Does the candidate with the most individual votes win? Not always. Sometimes, someone can win the popular voteIn both 2016 and 2020, Trump received less votes than the Democrat candidate. However, in 2016 he won the presidency due to the electoral college system. but fail to win 270 electoral votes. This means that the winning candidate will have won fewer actual votes - but that they won enough from states with enough electoral votes to secure a win.

This happened in 2016 when Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won 48.2% of the ballots cast nationally against Donald Trump's 46.1%. However, because of particular states that Trump won, he ended up with 304 electoral college votes.

Does the system need to change? Some say that the electoral college gives too much power to "swing" states and has allowed presidential elections to be decided by a handful of states with more electoral votes. They argue that means that millions of Americans' votes do not count because the result is not always representative of the popular vote.

Others argue that in 227 years, the winner of the popular vote has lost the electoral vote only
five times, proving that the system is not broken. It was enshrined by the Founding FathersThe men generally thought to have played the most important role in creating the United States of America, by leading its military forces during the War of Independence or by writing the documents on which it is founded and still guide the country today. to ensure that all parts of the country are involved in selecting the president. The system also guarantees a definite outcome - meaning that once electoral college votes have been awarded, further recounts are not needed.