With campaigns drawing to a close, the world is waiting on tenterhooks to see who the next president of the United States will be – Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. On Tuesday, 5th of November, all votes will be counted, and results will begin to be announced. Harris is running alongside vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz, who is governor of Minnesota, whilst Trump selected JD Vance as his running-mate, who is a senator from Ohio.

Whilst these two camps are not the only candidates running for election, the political landscape of the US has ensured a stable history of a two-party system. This means the only two realistic candidates are from the Democratic and Republican parties.

This election is chartered to make history. Current Vice-President Harris could become the first female president in the US’ history, not to mention only the second black president and the first president of Asian descent. She previously made history as the first female vice-president and could well advance history again.

History could also be seen in Trump as he could become only the second president to be re-elected after losing his first attempt at re-election.

This article aims to give an impartial overview of each candidate’s position and to provide information on how the election itself works.

How does the presidential election work?

The United States elections run on an electoral college system as established in the American Constitution. The electoral college has 538 votes which are distributed to each state depending on population. For example, California has 54 votes due to being the most populated State, whereas Wyoming has only 3 votes as one of the smaller States, population-wise.

Either on election day or in pre-voting, voters will cast their ballot in support of the candidate they want to see in the White House. These votes will be counted within each state. In most states, the candidate who receives the highest percentage of votes will win all the electoral college votes. So, hypothetically, if Harris received 50.1% of the votes in California, she would win all 54 electoral college votes. The only exceptions to this are Nebraska and Maine which use proportional representation, thereby distributing their electoral college votes depending on the percentage of the popular vote.

The candidate who gains at least 270 electoral votes wins the presidency. This means a president elect could have won the electoral college, but not the popular vote (as occurred in 2016 with Donald Trump).

Now, where do the candidates stand on main issues?

Economy

Economically, one of Harris’ priorities is “to support and strengthen the middle class”. In order to do this, she has said she will pass a tax cut for the middle classes and introduce a tax cut which would benefit the families with newborn children. Simultaneously, she has proposed a removal of federal taxes placed upon tips.

Trump’s focus is returning the economy to what it was under him in his previous term. His website states he will “rebuild the greatest economy in history”, detailing his plans for lower taxes and an increase in job availability.

Abortion

Abortion is undoubtedly one of the most debated and influential issues of this election, following the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022. Harris has promised that she will sign into law any bills which restore women’s reproductive rights. She upholds a woman’s right to make choices over her own body.

Trump continues to promote a pro-life viewpoint, with his campaign highlighting his role in the over-turning of Roe v Wade. Whilst he denies support for a national ban and believes in states’ autonomy over this issue, his running-mate Vance has endorsed a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks.

Guns

Whilst Harris supports background checks for the purchase of guns and the complete ban of assault weapons, this election campaign has revealed that she herself and her running-mate Walz both own guns. Thus, this has created a moderate platform which Harris has campaigned on, balancing gun rights with increased safety regulations to prevent gun violence.

Trump is committed to defending the second amendment, and therefore American citizens’ right to bear arms. His campaign celebrates his previous indirect achievement in protecting such rights through his appointment of three conservative Justices to the Supreme Court.

Health

Harris has promised to protect Medicare which was first introduced under President Obama. But she has also gone further in proposing an expansion to the system which would help with patients in long-term care due to illnesses.

Trump is endorsing “medical freedom” and “transparency”. He is committed to ensuring no “surprise” medical bills are presented to patients and lowering the price of prescriptions.

Students

Harris’ campaign website states that she will “continue working to end the unreasonable burden of student loan debt”. This would be crucial for students whose average tuition for public college is normally at least $108,584.

Trump, on the other hand, has spoken against loan forgiveness, stating it would be “unfair to the millions and millions of people who have paid their debt”. Instead, he pledges to reduce costs and provide alternative routes at a lesser cost.

What are the polls saying?

As of 30th October, the ABC 538 polls have Harris with a 1.4-point lead over Trump in her election bid. But this should not be taken as surety of victory for the Democratic camp, with Alicja Hagopian at The Independent saying “this could be the closest election in several decades”.

When will we find out the results?

Whilst the election is set to take place on the 5th, the US may not know the result of their votes for a few days after. In 2020 this was the case when it took several days to safely declare victory for Biden. The length of the wait will be dependent on numbers of mail-in ballots and any recounts that are demanded.

In part two of this article, I will be examining the results of the election and what it means for the United States – and the United Kingdom.

Featured Image: Aaron Kittredge on Pexels