Latest updates: Follow our full coverage on the US election
The race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump is tight but who will win on Tuesday depends not on the popular vote, but on the electoral college.
The US is the only democracy in the world where the head of state is chosen by an electoral college. The National takes a look at what that is and how it works:
What is the electoral college?
The electoral college is a national body consisting of 538 members who are responsible for electing a president. The writers behind the Constitution set it up to give power to the states and avoid having Congress decide the winner.
Each state's electors usually cast their votes for the candidate who won the popular vote in their state, and the runner-up gets nothing.
Some states, such as Nebraska and Maine, have elector votes awarded based on congressional district and statewide results.
To win the presidency, a candidate must secure 270 electoral votes nationally – the smallest majority of the 538 possible votes.
Why is the electoral college controversial?
In most elections globally, a candidate wins an election based on the number of votes they receive.
Under the electoral college system, more weight is given to a single vote in a small state than to the vote in a large populous state, leading to results in which the winner of the election is not always the winner of the popular vote.
It also affects how candidates campaign: nominees tend to focus most of their efforts on battleground states, which can “swing” different ways politically, instead of reaching out to voters in solidly Republican or Democratic states.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016 but Mr Trump won because he carried the electoral college. In 2000, George W Bush secured an electoral college win despite Al Gore having won the popular vote.
Democrats say the system favours Republicans since Democrats have won the popular vote more often and Republicans often take less-populated states with more electoral votes.
There have been growing calls for the end of the electoral college, and for a simple majority vote instead, but such a change would require a constitutional amendment and it is not clear whether there is enough support or interest to make that happen.
Who are the electors?
They can be former or current party officials or political activists chosen by parties in the state. Members of Congress are not allowed to serve as electors.
Each state has as many electors as it has representatives and senators in Congress: there are two senators for each state and the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives varies according to population size.
California – the most populous state – has 54 electors, while the six least populous states and the District of Columbia have only three.
But this apportioning means that one electoral vote in Wyoming – the least populous state – represents about 192,000 people, while one vote in Texas – one of the most underrepresented states – represents about 730,000 people.
How and when are the votes counted?
After state election officials certify ballot tallies, the electors meet in their individual states and certify them to officially cast their votes. They will send their votes and results to Congress on December 17, a little more than a month after the election.
The candidate who wins 270 electoral votes or more becomes president.
Those votes are officially tallied by Congress in a special session on January 6. The vice president presides over the proceedings as the envelopes for each state are opened and verified.
Can politicians object?
Politicians can object to a state's results during the congressional certification on January 6, as several Republicans did after the 2020 election.
In 2021, the House and Senate both voted to reject Republican objections to the Arizona and Pennsylvania results.
After Mr Trump tried to overturn his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden and his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Congress updated the 1800s-era Electoral Count Act to make it harder to object to results and to more clearly lay out the vice president's ceremonial role, among other changes.
Mr Trump had pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to object to the results – something the vice president has no legal standing to do.
The newly elected president will be sworn in on January 20.
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
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On sale: now
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
