When is the election taking place?
Tuesday, November 8
What time do the polls open?
The United States has six time zones, which makes things a little confusing. Voting times also vary from state to state and county to county but polling stations in most places will open between 5am and 8am local time.
What time do the polls close?
Again, this will vary depending on the state and county but voting in most places will close between 6pm and 9pm local time. The first polls to close will be in Indiana and Kentucky at 4am UAE time on November 9. The last polls to close will be in Alaska at 10am UAE time on November 9.
When is a winner likely to be declared?
The earliest the US television news networks can call the election for either candidate is around 11pm Eastern Time, which is 8am UAE time. In 2012, NBC became the first network to declare Barack Obama the winner over Mitt Romney at around 11.15pm Eastern Time. And in 2008, the networks simultaneously declared Mr Obama the winner over John McCain at around 11pm. The results are not always this early, however. In 2004, a close count in Ohio left the outcome unclear late into the night and John Kerry did not concede to George Bush until late the following morning.
How can I watch it?
Etisalat and Du subscribers with the basic TV package can watch CNN International, BBC World News or Al Jazeera English for live coverage.
How does the voting process work?
Unlike in other US elections, the president and vice president are not elected directly by the people but by “electors” through a process called the Electoral College. Each state has a different number of electors depending on how many members of Congress the state has. After Americans cast their ballots for president, their votes go to a statewide tally. In 48 states and the US capital, Washington, DC, the candidate who comes top of the statewide tally wins all of the electoral votes for that state. This means electors from the candidate’s party get to vote in the Electoral College on behalf of that state. Two states – Maine and Nebraska – use a proportional system to decide how electors will vote in the Electoral College.
The magic number: A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes – half the total plus one – to become president.
Worth knowing: It is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote but lose the Electoral College. This is uncommon but happened most recently in 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote but George W Bush won the Electoral College and therefore the presidency.
Could Donald Trump contest the election?
The Republican nominee has suggested that he may not accept the election result if he doesn’t win. But what can he do about it? Well, there are 43 states that allow a losing candidate to petition for a recount in that state – although some will only grant a recount if the candidate pays for it, even when it’s a close margin. Most states also allow voters to contest election results based on claims of illegal voting, bad behaviour by the vote counters, wrongly counted votes or the ineligibility of a candidate for office. It isn’t possible for a losing presidential candidate to contest the result at a national level as elections are administered on a state-by-state basis. And the bigger the margin of electoral votes, the more difficult it becomes for the losing candidate to try to contest the overall result. This is because it may take overturning the tally in more than one state – even several – to change the outcome.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
