Trump versus Harris: Province decides America's future

News38 Trump versus Harris: Province decides America's future Article by Henrik Jonathan Zinn • 14 hours • 3 minutes reading time It has been clear for weeks: the US election is a neck-and-neck race even shortly before the end. According to the latest polls, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are separated by less than one percentage point, making a victory in the contested swing states all the more important. The term swing state appears on the agenda of political reporting every four years, immediately before the US election. These are the states in the USA that are particularly politically contested - a confusing construct from a European perspective. The reason for this is the US majority voting system, including the electoral college. On November 5, the almost 240 million eligible voters will not cast their votes directly for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, but for their representatives ("electors"). In total, there are 538 electors in the USA, distributed across the 50 states. Whoever wins 270 of them wins the US election. The number of electors in each state depends on its size. In 48 of the 50 states, the electors are elected by majority vote. This means that the party with the most votes receives all the mandates and sends them to Washington! A few weeks later, they vote on the final presidency. Harris: Risky poker in Nebraska Kamala Harris is betting on a small province in Nebraska. Historically, traditional Republican and Democratic states have formed. These include Texas (Republicans) and New York (Democrats), for example. Trump and Harris can rely with a fair degree of certainty on their electors turning the state red or blue, respectively. However, there are seven states in which there is no traditional color - the swing states. The outcome here is based less on tradition and more on the actions of the respective candidates. Republicans and Democrats regularly take turns dominating the swing states. These include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. A few hours before the US election, however, there is no clear picture - neither Trump nor Harris can really pull away! Nevertheless, Harris' risky gamble could pay off. She hopes to win the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, because then she would have 269 electoral votes. Even if Trump won the remaining 52 votes, he would be one vote behind. Provided that the traditional states remain true to their traditions. The final decision is likely to be made in Nebraska, one of the smallest US states. Nebraska is firmly in Republican hands, but it is one of the two states where the majority voting system does not apply. Here, three of the five votes are awarded in districts - one of them is Omaha. The district, which has a population of 500,000, has been won by the Democrats in the last eight years. Even before the 2024 US election, everything speaks for Harris; she is currently leading by 54 to 42 percentage points (as of October 28) and could complete the 270 votes in Omaha. Trump could thus lose the US election in one province.