On November 2, the Americans elect their next president. Back in Europe it might be difficult to follow the rules, and what exactly is going on; partly because of the fact that the system is different from ours and partly because there is a bias in the European press. Here’s the story.

When the Americans elect their president, it is not the popular vote that is the deciding factor, i.e. it is not necessarily the candidate with the majority of the votes who wins. Whether this is good or bad, is up for you to decide for yourself, but that’s how it is. Instead, it is about winning the individual states and then you get points (called electoral votes) for each state that you win. It does not matter how much you win the state, just the fact that you win it. Each state has a different number of electoral votes. In the end, the electoral votes for each candidate is summed up, and the one with the most electoral votes wins. For this reason, it is important NOT to look at the nationwide percentage polls, which are extremely popular, because they do not contain all the information you need.

A very good website on this topic, which also tells you about the state polls and electoral votes is Current Electoral Vote Predictor 2004. Enjoy!

UPDATE: The New York Times also offers a good website on the topic:
NY Times Election Guide. Again–enjoy!

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