As Election Day draws near, the candidates are focusing intensely on states that could decide the contest. They are arguing over how to frame the economy, foreign policy and other issues that will shape their presidency. The race is also about control of the Senate, where Democrats and Republicans are battling for control of seats that lean one way or the other. The House of Representatives is not up for grabs this year, but it’s still important to watch which party controls the chamber — because they dictate what laws are passed and act as a check on what the president does.
Most Americans know that the person who wins the most votes on Election Day becomes president. But they might not know that there’s a second step to the process: the Electoral College consists of 538 members who vote for the president and congressional seats in the United States. Each state has a certain number of electors and a candidate needs 270 to win the White House. The election of the president and vice president is based on state-by-state votes; the winner of each congressional district gets two seats, and so on.
To gain a seat on the Electoral College, each party holds primaries and caucuses during the year before the election. The winners of these contests are delegates who attend a nominating convention to select their presidential candidate. The finalists then battle in the general election against each other.
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