the US election is approaching fast but how does it actually work here's everything you need to know there are two main parties the Democrats and the Republicans they both pick their candidates through a series of votes in different states they're called primaries or caucuses and whoever wins those races becomes each party's nominee for president confirmed at the party conventions then it's time to compete for this place the White House when it comes to the race for president it is all about a system called The Electoral College and this is where it does get a little
complicated so stay with me each state has a different number of electoral College votes depending on its population it sounds weird but there's a logic here the number of electoral College votes is based on how many representatives each state has in this place Congress in Washington DC it has a lower house and it has an upper house each state has two senators in the Senate the upper house while the number of politicians each state has in the lower house the House of Representatives well that depends on the population of the state a lot to take
in so here are some examples California is huge it has its two senators and it has 52 Representatives that adds up to 54 Electoral College votes Vermont is much smaller it has its two senators and it has just one representative giving it three Electoral College votes totted up across the country there are a total of 538 Electoral College votes up for grabs in each state except two whichever candidate comes out on top on Election night bags all that State's Electoral College votes and so the aim is to get 270 to win the presidency now Most
states are predictable some are always Republican red others always vote blue Democrat but it's the unpredictable ones the so-called swing states that make the election these are the nail biters sometimes it can come down to individual counties in individual states small populations that can swing the world's most important election one way or the other
