Electoral Map Live: As Polls Close, Here’s What To Look For
Several sites have posted an electoral map for live results that will be released once the polls close all over the country. With just one hour to go before the first several poll closings, many Americans find themselves wondering what they should be looking for to determine who has the edge on this race.
If you’ve voted in a presidential election before, you probably know that the winner of such a race is determined by electoral colleges, not by the popular vote. That means that there could be more overall votes for one candidate but the other candidate could win. Let’s take a closer look at how this works.
An electoral college is defined as a body of people representing the states of the U.S, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president. It’s a process that was established by our founding fathers that determines every presidential election. According to the National Archives And Records Administration, a candidate needs 270 electoral college votes to become the president of the United States.
“The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators. Read more about the allocation of electoral votes.”
The electoral map will be updated live as polls close and votes are recorded. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, closing times for polls vary by state. The very first polls closing in the U.S. will do so at 7 p.m. EST. Every hour thereafter (until 1 a.m. EST), batches of states’ polls will close.
Take a look at the map below (don’t put too much faith in the colors of the states, but check out the number of electoral votes in each state).
Hillary has dropped 60 electoral votes in the last week alone.
This is 1980 all over again!
Vote Trump! pic.twitter.com/LsCxw53k37— Tennessee GOP (@TEN_GOP) November 2, 2016
The most important states in tonight’s presidential race are the battleground states. They include Ohio, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and more. The biggest swing states that Donald Trump would need to win this election are Florida and Ohio. There is also some talk of him being able to flip some “blue” states like Michigan.
The live electoral map will begin coloring in states red or blue, depending on how many votes each candidate receives. States expected to go blue without question include California, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Red states include Texas, South Carolina, and much of the Midwest. Even still, there is no clear path to victory as any winning candidate needs electoral college votes from the swing states in order to get to 270.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Predict the electoral votes https://t.co/6b78KWPCVA pic.twitter.com/raksA4lfj4
— Times Herald-Record (@recordonline) October 30, 2016
Allowing the electoral college votes to determine who becomes president is something that many people would like to see change. Many don’t feel as though their vote even counts because some states just go red or go blue regardless.
Current predictions are all over the place and both candidates appear to be in a tie in many of the swing states. Many media outlets have said that it will be easy for Hillary Clinton to win tonight, but that Donald Trump could pull this off — if his supporters come out to vote.
As you watch the popular votes come in and the numbers rise for one candidate over another, keep in mind that winning big electoral college states (like Florida) matters more.
Who do you think has the edge in this election?
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
