Harris And Trump Need 270 Electoral Votes To Win The US Presidential Election, But The Results Can Be A Series 269-269

US Presidential Election. (Wikimedia Commons/Tom Arthur)

JAKARTA - Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party and her Republican rival Donald Trump need at least 270 electoral votes to win the United States presidential election starting Tuesday.

US citizens are exercising their political rights today. They did not vote directly on the presidential candidate, but voted for a competing list of "electors" who will in turn vote for the president and vice president on December 17, "quoted from CNN November 5.

Collectively, the electors of all 50 states and the District of Columbia are referred to as "Electoral College". The electoral is a group of people tasked with representing each state.

The names of electoral candidates are usually under the president and his deputy. However, their appearance depends on the rules and voting formats in each state. Electors were proposed by parties in the states before the elections, which were previously selected by convention in the state as well as the vote of party center committees.

Presidential candidates who won the majority of people's votes on the eve of the election did not necessarily win the White House. To win the presidency, a candidate must win the majority of votes at Electoral College.

Electoral College consists of 538 electors representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC).

Each state has between three and 54 electoral votes. The number of electoral votes from any state is determined by adding the total number of US senators and US representatives. (DC gets three electoral votes' the number it will get if it is a state and the minimum number of electors is possible for any state.)

A candidate needs a majority of electoral votes 270 to win.

The electoral vote of each state is based on the latest population of the Census 2020. Thirteen states will have a different number of electoral votes than they had in the last presidential election.

In the 48 states and Districts of Columbia, all electoral votes are given to candidates who won most of the people's votes in the state. It is known as the "winner takes everything" system. However, the two states of Maine and Nebraska did not vote their electoral votes according to the winning system taking everything.

After the general election, the electors met in their respective states on Tuesday first after the second Wednesday in December to vote separately for the president and vice president.

This year, the electors will meet on December 17. The meeting is usually held in the state DPR building or state building.

Electoral College results were calculated and passed by a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2025.

So, what if Harris, who is paired with the Walz and Trump teams paired with JD Vance, does not get 270 electoral votes?

If no candidate reaches 270 required, the US Constitution will determine the next steps. The race will be a "conditional general election" that gives Congress the responsibility to elect the next president and vice president, quoted from The Economic Times.

Conditional elections are a process that takes place when the US House of Representatives decides on the winner, according to Al Jazeera. Delegation of each state in the House of Representatives voted one vote, a total of 50 votes, and a candidate must get the majority of the state's delegation to win, 26 votes or more.

According to the 12th Amendment, which came into effect after a divisive 1800 general election, if no candidate acquires a majority of Electoral College votes, the new Congress, which was just sworn in on January 3, will elect a president. The Senate will elect a vice president. This process is detailed in Article Two, Part One, Klausul of the Three Constitutions.

While the draw is unlikely, it is something that must be anticipated. If Kamala Harris wins in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada as well as one electoral vote in Nebraska, all of which Joe Biden won in 2020, but he lost in Pennsylvania and Georgia, then the result could be a draw, 269-269, according to a CNN report.

Citing VOA, the latest New York Times/Sienna College poll shows Harris and Trump are competing in seven states, with a margin of error of 3.5 percent poll results. Harris is a narrow lead in Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Trump is narrowly ahead in Arizona. The two are competing in Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Quoted from The New York Times, Harris is estimated to have secured 226 electoral votes, while Trump has 219 electoral votes. Harris is expected to need an additional 44 electoral votes, while Trump will need 51 electoral votes if he wants to win the 47th presidential election contest for Uncle Sam's country.