This Tuesday, November 3, the United States votes in the elections to be its president for the next four years. We summarize in five keys the most important points of this electoral appointment that confronts Donald Trump and Joe Biden: What parties are presented to the elections? In each electoral appointment small minority parties can appear but, in essence, there are two parties who aspire to bring their representative to the White House.The Republican Party is the one that currently presides over the country in the figure of Donald Trump, who aspires to re-election. It is the conservative party, defender of tax cuts, the freedom to bear arms and greater restrictions on immigration. It tends to have greater support in rural areas of the United States and in Deep America. The Democratic Party aspires to return to power after Hillary Clinton failed to reissue the two victories of Barack Obama. The previous Democratic president was Bill Clinton, also in two legislatures. The current candidate, Joe Biden, was vice president for Obama’s eight years. It is a more progressive party -but less than European socialism- and it tends to enjoy greater support in large urban centers. How is the winner decided? The vote in the United States has a particularity, the process of which we will explain here. The votes in the total of the country are not added directly, but each state is counted separately, and then the results are computed in each state, but in a special way.The great particularity is that the candidate who wins in each state takes all the votes obtained in that state, leaving the rival at zero.It does not matter if the result in a specific state is very close or a candidate clearly wins, the winner will take all the votes.The next point to consider is how many votes each state contributes. The objective of the candidates is to reach a total of 270 electoral votes – as if we were talking about seats in Spain for the count. Each state is assigned a number of electoral votes based on its population. How do you vote? Any US citizen over the age of 18 has the right to vote in elections. However, the process is laborious. Before voting, you must register, providing certain documentation. Only after being registered, you can vote, either on Election Day, by mail, in advance … What else do you vote on November 3? The presidential election is the big vote on November 3, but this day new members of Congress are chosen – the 435 – and up to a third of the Senate. -33 up for grabs-. Voters choose new members by filling in their ballots. Democrats currently have a majority in Congress and aspire to win another majority in the Senate. When will the winner be known? The total count in the United States usually takes several days, but is It is usual that on the same night it is already clear who the winner is, so that both candidates recognize it. In 2016, Donald Trump proclaimed himself the winner when he went on stage at 3 a.m., around 8 a.m. in Spain, but this time, given the large number of votes cast by mail, experts warn that there are many possibilities that you have to wait several days, even a few weeks, to meet the winner.If Donald Trump wins the elections, he will remain as president until the next elections. If Joe Biden is elected, a transition period will begin until the transfer of powers becomes effective in a ceremony on January 20 at the Capitol in Washington DC .
