How will Americans vote for their next president, and what else is at stake for the Republicans and the Democrats? Here are the basics of this year's US elections:
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US President Donald Trump is vying for a second term in the White House, running against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, 77, a former vice president, in the November election.
The 74-year-old Republican incumbent has been trailing in the polls all year, and was facing headwinds even before the coronavirus outbreak. His numbers have not improved since then, though a Biden victory is far from certain.
In addition to the presidency, the entire House of Representatives and 35 Senate seats are up for grabs.
Q: When and how will elections take place?
A: Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, and voting will take place across the country. Some states are allowing people to participate in early voting, usually by mail or at a designated early voting polling station, which has already begun in certain locations.
Q: What is the Electoral College?
A: In the US, the president is not directly elected by a count of the nationwide popular vote. Instead, the 50 states and Washington DC have a specific number of electors in the Electoral College proportionate to their population size. Nearly all states have a winner-takes-all system, in which the candidate with the most votes gets all the electors.
In order to win the presidency, a candidate needs 270 electors out of the 538. As occurred in 2016, when Trump won, it is possible to get elected to the White House without obtaining the most votes nationwide.
Q: What issues matter to US voters this year?
A: Healthcare, the economy, future appointments to the Supreme Court and violent crime are among the most important issues to US voters, according to the Pew Research Centre.
Issues like climate change and abortion ranked further down, but they remain concerns that inflame passions in certain segments of the population.
With the coronavirus raging, the response has become front and centre for many voters. Biden and the centre-left Democrats have vociferously attacked Trump, accusing him of mishandling the pandemic, with has led to more than 200,000 deaths, one of the worst rates in the world.
Trump, who enjoys almost the full backing of the centre-right Republicans, staunchly defends his record and focuses on reopening workplaces and schools, as he sees the economy as a point of strength for his campaign.
The incumbent is also running on a tough law-and-order campaign, while Biden is reaching out to social justice protesters and promising more left-leaning reforms to the health care system.
Q: Which Senate seats are up for grabs?
A: Senate seats will be contested in 35 US states. The centre-right Republican Party currently holds a 53-47 seat advantage in the 100-seat Senate. This year Republicans have to defend 23 seats while the centre-left Democrats have to defend just 12.
In order to control the Senate, Democrats would need to flip at least 3 seats.
Q: Which House seats are up for grabs?
A: Currently, Democrats hold 232 seats in the House of Representatives while Republicans hold 198. There are also 4 vacancies and 1 seat held by a Libertarian. All of these seats will be contested in November.
The Cook Political Report, an independent organisation that analyses elections, has rated 190 seats as solidly Democrat and 154 as solidly Republican.
Q: How many people will vote?
A: In the 2018 mid-term elections there were around 153 million registered voters in the US. During the 2016 presidential elections, 138 million people showed up to vote, or 58.1 per cent of those who are registered.
The US usually has low voter turnout compared to many other Western countries.
Australian Associated Press
