Election Day is today. While millions of Americans have already voted, millions more will head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3 to cast their ballots in the race between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. It will be the 59th quadrennial presidential election. Majority needed to elect the president and vice president: 270.This is what happens if neither candidate collects the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Oval Office. If that happens, the House of Representatives would pick the president under a procedure outlined in the Constitution’s 12th Amendment.
The winner of the 2020 presidential election will be sworn into office on January 20, 2021. Sixteen U.S. presidents—approximately one-third—have won two consecutive elections. George H.W. Bush (R) was the last president to lose his re-election campaign in 1992.
Election Day is a civic holiday in some states, including Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, and the territory of Puerto Rico. Some other states require that workers be permitted to take time off from employment without loss of pay. California Elections Code Section 14000 provides that employees otherwise unable to vote must be allowed two hours off with pay, at the beginning or end of a shift. Election Day 2020 would be a paid holiday for all government workers in Illinois – at an unknown cost to already ailing local governments. While Election Day is now a state holiday, it’s not a federal one, which means fewer individuals and businesses will be affected. However, all Illinois government offices at the state and local level, K-12 schools, post-secondary institutions governed by the State Universities Civil Service Act, and state employees can expect to get the day off.
Central issues of the election include:
the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has left more than 230,000 Americans dead;
protests in reaction to the police killing of George Floyd and other African Americans;
the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett;
and the future of the Affordable Care Act, with Biden arguing for protecting and expanding the scope of the legislation, and Trump pushing for its repeal.
Trump secured the Republican nomination without any serious opposition alongside incumbent vice president Pence. Former vice president Joe Biden secured the Democratic nomination over his closest rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, in a competitive primary that featured the largest field of presidential candidates for any political party in the modern era of American politics. On August 11, 2020, Biden announced that his running mate would be Senator Kamala Harris, making her the first African-American, the first Indian-American, the first Asian-American, and the third female vice presidential nominee on a major party ticket (after Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008). Jo Jorgensen secured the Libertarian nomination with Spike Cohen as her running mate, and Howie Hawkins secured the Green nomination with Angela Nicole Walker as his running mat.
The winner of the 2020 presidential election is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, 2021. If elected, Biden would become the oldest person to serve as president at 78 years old on the day of his inauguration, and the first candidate to defeat an incumbent president in 28 years since Democrat Bill Clinton defeated Republican George H. W. Bush in 1992; in addition, his running mate Harris would become the first woman to serve as vice-president. If reelected, Trump would be the oldest president to be inaugurated in U.S. history, as he would be 74 at the time of the 2021 inauguration. This is the first presidential election in which both the major candidates are over 70.e.3]
Here’s when the voting polls open and close in every state – LINK.
Everything You Need to know to vote:
United States Electoral College Votes by State – LINK.
