Voters across the country say their top priority this time was “democracy,” according to exit polling reported by NBC News, followed by the economy, abortion and migration.
For the rest of the world, the election marks a pivotal moment, with the future of European security and global trade in the balance. Trump has threatened to pull the U.S. out of the NATO military alliance and boasted about ending Russia’s war on Ukraine in a day. European governments have been trying to prepare for what — for some — will be the nightmarish prospect of a second Trump term.
The president is not chosen by popular vote whereby the candidate with the most support across the U.S. wins. Instead, there are 50 state-wide contests and one in the District of Columbia, in a system known as the “Electoral College.”
In almost all cases, the states count their ballots and then declare all their allotted Electoral College votes for the candidate the majority of their voters backed. The winner is the candidate with the most Electoral College votes across the country.
Pollsters and political experts reckon most of the states are sewn up for one candidate or the other, with only seven truly competitive battlegrounds. These are the so-called Rust Belt states, former industrial heartlands like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania; and the Sun Belt states like Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Arizona in the southern and western parts of the country.
Election day has been tense for many Americans. The campaign split the country with many voters feeling they have a terrible choice to make between the outlandish and unpredictable Republican former President Trump and his Democrat rival, Vice President Harris, who has struggled to define herself or set out what she would do differently to President Joe Biden if she wins.
