– AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL 2024: all our articles
1 – Harris against Trump: which candidates and which programs?
– Kamala Harris (60 ans)born in 1964 in Oakland, California, is the first woman, as well as the first person of African-American and South Asian descent, to serve as vice president of the United States. The child of an Indian mother, a medical researcher, and a Jamaican father, an economics professor, she grew up with a sensitivity to issues of social justice. A graduate of Howard University and the University of California, San Francisco, Harris pursued a career in law, becoming a San Francisco district attorney and then attorney general of California. She was elected senator in 2017 and, after her candidacy for the 2020 presidential election, was chosen by Joe Biden as his running mate. In July 2024, she became the Democratic candidate for president, following the withdrawal of Joe Biden, notably defending the right to abortion.
> Kamala Harris' program
– Donald Trump (78 ans)for his part, is a controversial figure in American politics, former president from 2017 to 2021. Born in 1946 in New York, in the borough of Queens, he became a businessman and a television personality, who shook political codes with its populist style and nationalist positions. After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, he continues to mobilize a broad base of support and remains influential within the Republican Party. Despite several legal investigations, Trump remains a central player, seeking another presidential term with speeches focused on immigration, the economy and a conservative vision of America.
> Donald Trump's program
2 – US presidential election, instructions… How does it work?
– What is the voting method? Unlike France and many other countries, the President of the United States is elected by indirect universal suffrage. This means that voters do not vote for the president, but for intermediaries, called electors, who form the Electoral College.
– How many electors? The total stands at 538, and a US presidential candidate must obtain at least 270 voters to win the election. Electors are distributed based on state population, with each state receiving a number equivalent to its congressional (senate) delegation. California is thus the state with the largest number of electors with 54 elected officials. The least resourced states like Alaska only have three.
Here is their number of electors according to each state, from the most endowed to the least endowed: California: 54 electors, Texas: 40, Florida: 30, New York: 28, Illinois: 19, Pennsylvania: 19, Ohio: 17, Georgia: 16, North Carolina: 16, Michigan: 15, New Jersey: 14, Virginia: 13, Washington: 12, Arizona: 11, Massachusetts: 11, Tennessee: 11, Indiana: 11, Maryland: 10, Wisconsin: 10, Minnesota: 10, Missouri: 10, Colorado: 10, Alabama: 9, Carolina South: 9, Kentucky: 8, Louisiana: 8, Oklahoma: 7, Oregon: 7, Connecticut: 7, Iowa: 6, Mississippi: 6, Arkansas: 6, Kansas: 6, Utah: 6, Nevada: 6, New Mexico: 5, Nebraska: 5, Idaho: 4, Maine: 4, New Hampshire: 4, Rhode Island: 4, Montana: 4, South Dakota: 3, North Dakota: 3, Alaska: 3, Delaware: 3, District of Columbia: 3, Vermont: 3, Wyoming: 3.
The map of the number of electors by state.
source Wikipedia
– How does the “Winner take all” principle work? The principle of “winner take all” in the American electoral system defines a method by which the candidate who obtains the most votes in a state wins all of the electors of that state. This rule applies in the majority of states and has a significant impact on the outcome of the election. For example, if a candidate gets 51% of the vote in a given state, he or she will receive all the electors in that state, even if the difference is small. This means that the vote of voters who supported the losing candidate has no influence on the final result.
– How can Americans vote in the presidential election?
Early voting allows voters to vote before the official election day. This option is available in 47 states. Polling stations are open for a specific period, usually a few days or weeks before the election. Times and locations may vary by location, providing more flexibility for voters. The early voting process began in some states as early as September and this Tuesday, November 5, election day, the election already had more than 80 million votes.
Postal voting allows voters to send their ballot by mail without having to travel. Each state has its own rules regarding this method, including deadlines for requesting and returning a ballot. This option is particularly useful for those who cannot vote in person, whether for health reasons, mobility or absence on election day.
Vote on D-Day. Voting on D-Day takes place on the Tuesday of the presidential election. Voters go to their assigned polling station to express their choice. They can vote on electronic machines or with paper ballots. This method is the most traditional and generally attracts a large number of voters.
– Why does the American presidential election always take place on a Tuesday? For nearly 180 years, millions of Americans have voted every four years to choose the new president of the United States. An election which always takes place on a Tuesday in November. Explanations in our article here.
3 – What are the stakes of the election?
In a world power like the United States, the appointment of the president necessarily has consequences that transcend borders. Here are our reference reports on the issues of the election across the Atlantic and around the world.
For the United States:
– Franco-American political scientist Amy Greene describes in our article the behind the scenes of an America tired of external adventures and whose society suffers from multiple and systemic ills, which encourage division and withdrawal.
– Will the “blue wall” of the Great Lakes, more crumbly than ever, resist?
– Michigan: in Detroit, Kamala Harris tries to mobilize the black vote, key to the election
– In Pennsylvania, Erie, the “boomerang” county where Democrats are full of enthusiasm
Worldwide:
– Will US aid to Ukraine be at risk if Donald Trump wins?
– In foreign policy, the Harris scalpel against the Trump hammer
– Harris or Trump, the French political class still prefers Kamala
4 – How to monitor the results?
– When will the name of the winner be revealed? Concretely, the first estimates will begin to fall as soon as polling stations close on the East Coast around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, local time (i.e. 1 a.m. on Wednesday November 6, in France). A definitive result could come at the very end of the evening across the Atlantic, i.e. early Wednesday morning in France. But as the gaps remain very close between the two finalists, according to the polls, the revelation of the winner could last. The possibility of recounts or even appeals could delay the news. In 2020, Joe Biden was only consecrated four days after the election. Here is our article that explains everything.
– Where to follow the electoral count? With the interactive infographic below, follow the counting of the electors, candidate by candidate, to find out who will exceed the fateful threshold of 270 electors elected to access the White House.
– What are the results in the different states? Follow the revelation of the results of the American presidential election, state by state, using our interactive map below
Who will officially reveal the name of the winner? As the American presidential election is based on an indirect universal ballot, it is the electors designated at the end of the election who will vote and formalize the victory of a candidate, during a solemn vote next December. But it is traditionally the American media which give the name of the winner in the hours following the election, based on the first results and estimates. Usually, it is the Associated Press (AP) news agency which proclaims the final result when the media considers that the leading candidate's lead is sufficient.
5 – What timetable until the president takes office?
Between the election itself, Tuesday, November 5, 2024, and the installation of the president in his chair in the Oval Office, at the White House, a long period of transition is in place in the United States. This lasts more than two months and ensures an orderly transfer of power between the outgoing administration and the new presidential team. Here is the timeline of the three main milestones for the next president:
December 17, 2024. The electors meet in the capitals of their respective states to solemnly vote. It is the official vote of the electoral college that determines the president and vice president.
January 6, 2025. A historic joint session of Congress is being held at the Capitol. The President of the Senate carries out the official count of the votes of the electors before the two chambers combined and formally announces the result of the presidential election. This is the certification of the result.
