New to US presidential elections and want to know how to watch? Here are some tools to help you.
The election is not won by popular vote, but by the electoral college. Each state is given electors based on its representation in Congress. Since every state has at least 2 senators and 1 House representative, a state can have a minimum of 3 electoral votes. For states like California with 53 representatives, the state has 55 electoral votes.
Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that allot electors based on congressional district. That means that Hillary can win Maine's popular vote (2 electoral votes) and its 1st Congressional District (1 electoral vote), but still lose its 2nd Congressional District to Trump (1 electoral vote) and only win 3/4 electoral votes.
Washington DC also gets 3 electoral votes, and has voted Democratic every single election since it first began to vote in presidential elections in 1960.
A candidate needs to win 270 electoral votes to win the election. If neither candidate makes it to 270, the House of Representatives votes for the President, and the Senate votes for the Vice President. Both houses of Congress are held by Republicans.
On election night, voting will end in certain states at different times depending on time zones. For example, the parts of Indiana in the Eastern time zone (New York time) stop voting at 6PM NY time, while the Central time zone stops voting at 7PM New York time. A complete list of poll closing times: thegreenpapers.com/G16/closing.phtml?format=gc
As the polls close, you can watch the electoral map fill up in real-time as the Associated Press and other news organizations project the winner of each state.
Obama won the 2012 election at around 10:15PM, but there are usually some indicators earlier in the night about who will win.
If PA and VA are called quickly for Hillary, Trump has probably lost. VA polls close at 7PM NY time, and PA polls close at 8PM.
Alternatively, if GA is called quickly for Trump, and if FL is as well, that's great news for Trump (especially him winning FL early).
>IN ORDER TO WIN THE ELECTION, TRUMP MUST WIN FLORIDA, OHIO, AND NORTH CAROLINA.
There are other paths for him to follow, but there are very few in comparison to the ones he has with FL, OH, and NC. If he loses any of them, it's very likely that he lost.
As the night progresses, you can fill in the rest of the map using this site: 270towin.com/
I typically watch Fox News or CNN streams for election coverage. Those links will be provided on election nights in the threads hosting them.
Jeremiah Evans
That tossups map is old. Pic related is more accurate
Aiden Jones
Meant to make PA a tossup, but you get the point. Anybody can still win
Mason Anderson
Dear world: we know this election system is somewhat retarded. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 but lost the electoral vote by a very slim margin because Florida just barely choose Bush.
Brandon Thompson
Thank you bump
Elijah Morales
I wouldn't be surprised if Clinton won the popular vote and Trump won the electoral
Cameron Williams
Thank you OP. You have no idea how helpful this is for us Yuropoors.
Bentley Flores
It is a weird system, so that's understandable.
Nolan Ward
Lmao Trump doesn't have a fucking chance if that map is accurate.
He would need to win virtually every 'swing state'
Juan Lewis
It is weird from a democracy perspective but it is incredibly entertaining.
Kayden Gray
> we know this election system is somewhat retarded
There is actually a reason for it, and a good one, but it's not one that people like to remember because it's the very antithesis of democracy. Namely, the Electors DO NOT HAVE TO vote according to their state. The people of Massachusetts could vote 100% Democrat, but the Electors could go Republican.
The purpose behind this is prevent a demagogue like Napoleon or Hitler using popular appeal to come into power even though he or she is not good for the country, i.e., to stop "mob mentality".
The check on this is that Electors who do this will most likely lose their positions with their next election, since Senate and Representative posts *are* determined by popular vote within a state.
Mason Lee
I screwed that map up; I apologize. Pic related is much more reasonable.
It's difficult to gauge because the polls are everywhere.
This is slightly more doable, although Clinton still has a clear advantage.
Oh well we'll know in a few hours anyway.
Brody Diaz
what is the best stream to watch, i just want to watch some as neutral as possible coverage without all the fucking slanted bullshit.
Justin Morales
Yes, it would be awful if the candidate would be popular in his/her country
Ian Brown
Hard to say. I think CNN usually has the fastest projections. For neutrality, you certainly can't look at any of the big cable companies. I'd flip through CNN and Fox
Sebastian Garcia
this
Benjamin Young
It's not about stopping a merely popular candidate. It's about stopping one who is clearly, from a political perspective, a demagogue who will ruin the country but who is gathering popular support regardless.
Remember that a person can be smart, but people are stupid.
Jose Hall
Other way around seems more likely.
Eli Thompson
I check Sup Forums for election updates and i listen to some news podcasts too (like True Capitalist Radio)
