US Presidential Election: What to Expect on Polling Day
November 8, 2016 in United States
Today, Americans will go to the polls to elect the 45th President of the United States – Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton or Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump.
Voting begins at 6 AM on the day and the first polls will close at midnight UK time (00:00 GMT; 19:00 EST). The first projections from states will follow shortly afterwards based on exit polls. The two candidates need to win 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes in order to win the White House.
The earliest time that the election could be “called” for one of the candidates by US TV networks is likely to be around 4 AM UK time – both the 2008 and 2012 elections were called for Barack Obama at around that time. Once the election has been called, the defeated candidate will call the victor in order to concede the presidential race, before both make speeches during the night to their supporters. There is however a possibility that the result could still not be known at the end of election day, as occurred during the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. If the result is too close to call without counting every vote, or if legal battles over election procedures are taking place, it could delay the result or force a recount. In the even that neither candidate has a majority of Electoral College votes, the result would be sent to the House of Representatives. Delegations from each state would then cast one vote, with the candidate winning the most states declared the winner. This has occurred on two occasions
- 1801 – Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr failed to win a majority of Electoral College votes. After 36 successive votes in the House, Mr Jefferson was declared the winner.
- 1824 – John Quincy Adams beat Andrew Jackson on the first ballot in the House, despite losing the popular vote.
Here is a list of the timings for polls closing on election day (UK time):
Midnight
- Georgia – 16 votes
- Indiana – 11 votes
- Kentucky – 8 votes
- South Carolina – 9 votes
- Vermont – 3 votes
- Virginia – 13 votes
0:30 AM
- North Carolina – 15 votes
- Ohio – 18 votes
- West Virginia – 5 votes
1 AM
- Alabama – 9 votes
- Connecticut – 7 votes
- Delaware – 3 votes
- District of Columbia – 3 votes
- Florida – 29 votes
- Illinois – 20 votes
- Maine – 4 votes
- Maryland – 10 votes
- Massachusetts – 11 votes
- Mississippi – 6 votes
- Missouri – 10 votes
- New Hampshire – 4 votes
- New Jersey – 14 votes
- Oklahoma – 7 votes
- Pennsylvania – 20 votes
- Rhode Island – 4 votes
- Tennessee – 11 votes
1:30 AM
- Arkansas – 6 votes
2 AM
- Arizona – 11 votes
- Colorado – 9 votes
- Kansas – 6 votes
- Louisiana – 8 votes
- Michigan – 16 votes
- Minnesota – 10 votes
- Nebraska – 5 votes
- New York – 29 votes
- North Dakota – 3 votes
- South Dakota – 3 votes
- Texas – 38 votes
- Wisconsin – 10 votes
- Wyoming – 3 votes
3 AM
- Iowa – 6 votes
- Montana – 3 votes
- Nevada – 6 votes
- Utah – 6 votes
4 AM
- California – 55 votes
- Hawaii – 4 votes
- Idaho – 4 votes
- Oregon – 7 votes
- Washington – 12 votes
6 AM
- Alaska – 3 votes
Officials Reveal al-Qaeda Terror Plot Targeting US Presidential Election
November 7, 2016 in United StatesIntelligence officials warned on 4 November that al-Qaeda may be planning terror attacks in several states around the US presidential election, which is set to take place on 8 November.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) have disclosed that they are taking the threat seriously, adding that they are assessing the credibility of a possible attack on the eve of Election Day. Officials have further disclosed that counter-terrorism investigators are viewing the information that the terror group is planning to carry out attacks in New York, Texas and Virginia, however there have been no specific locations in these states that have been mentioned. In a statement, NYPD spokesman disclosed that the information “lacks specificity.” Steve Coleman also indicated that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates airports, tunnels and bridges around New York City, had been alerted, adding “we are continuing with the high level of patrols at all of our facilities that we have had in place for some time now.”
The threat comes just four days before polls officially open in the US. Earlier last week, an alert warned local police of “polling places” being seen as “attractive targets” for “lone wolf” attacks. Officials however have disclosed that they regularly assess all possible security threats ahead of major events, with a senior FBI official telling CBS news that “the counter-terrorism and homeland security communities remain vigilant and well-postured to defend against attacks here in the United States…The FBI, working with our federal, state and local counterparts, shares and assesses intelligence on a daily basis and will continue to work closely with law enforcement and intelligence community partners to identify and disrupt any potential threat to public safety.”
US Election 2016: How Does the US Presidential Election Work?
November 7, 2016 in United StatesIn January 2017, after a drawn out and expensive campaign, the United States will have a new leader. US presidential elections mean that citizens are not only choosing a head of state, but also a head of government and a commander-in-chief of the largest military on the planet. So how does the US Presidential election work?
Who Can Be President?
Technically, to run for president, you only need to be “a natural born” US citizen, at least 35 year old and have been a resident for fourteen years. However in reality, every president since 1933 has been a governor, senator or a five-star military general. During the 2016 election period, at one point there were ten governors or former governors and ten who are or were senators. One person is nominated to represent the Republican and Democratic parties in the presidential election.
Who Gets to be the Presidential Pick for Each Party?
Beginning in February of the year of the election, a series of elections are held in every state and overseas territory. These elections determine who becomes each party’s official presidential candidate. The winner of each election collects a number of “delegates,” which are party members who have the power to vote for that candidate at the party conventions that are held in July, where candidates are formally confirmed. The more state contests a candidate winds, the more delegates will be pledged to support them at the convention.
This year, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were the clear winners and were officially nominated at their party’s conventions in July. They also officially unveiled their vice-president picks – Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia for Mrs Clinton and Indiana Governor Mike Pence for the Republicans.
Key Dates Between Now and Election
While the election campaign feels long, in reality it has only begun. Once the candidates have been confirmed at the party conventions in July, the real campaign begins, with each candidate travelling across the country to make their case.
In the last six weeks before the November election, there are three televised presidential debates:
- 26 September in Hempstead, New York
- 4 October in Farmville, Virginia (Vice-Presidential Debate)
- 9 October in St Louis, Missouri
- 19 October in Las Vegas, Nevada
The election will take place on Tuesday, 8 November.
How does the Vote in November Work?
The candidate with the most votes in each state becomes the candidate which that stat supports for president. It all comes down to a system known as the electoral college, which is a group of people who choose the winner – 538 of them. However just half of that number – 270 – is needed in order to make a president. Furthermore, not all states are equal. For example, California has more than ten times the population of Connecticut and therefore they do not get an equal say. Each state has a certain number of these “electors,” based on their population in the most recent census. That number is the same number of districts in a state, plus two senators. When citizens vote for their preferred candidate, they are actually voting for the electors, some of which are pledged to one candidate, and some for another. In almost every state, with the exception of Nebraska and Maine, the winner takes all. Therefore the person who wins the most electors in New York, for example, will get all 29 of New York’s electoral votes. As a result, the swing states are often the ones that matter most.
What are Swing States?
Some states are known as “swing states,” which means that they could go either way. Florida in particular, with 29 votes, famously decided during the 2000 election in favor of Republican George W. Bush, who lost the popular vote nationally but, after a Supreme Court case, won the electoral college. Other swing states include: Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
When Does the new President Begin Work?
In the days and weeks after the election the victor will assemble a cabinet and will begin crafting a more thorough police agenda. Under the US constitution, the president is inaugurated on 20 January of the year following the election.
US Embassy Warning for the Kyrgyz Republic (October 2016)
October 9, 2016 in United StatesThe U.S. Embassy has received information indicating the possibility of terrorist attacks, which may potentially involve kidnapping and hostage taking, targeted against local authorities and foreign diplomats during the month of October in the Kyrgyz Republic.
US Kills Number of IS ‘Leaders’ In Iraq
October 3, 2016 in United StatesA United States military spokesman reported on 29 September that in the last thirty days, air strikes by the United States and it s allies have killed eighteen Islamic State (IS) “leaders,” adding that thirteen of them were killed in Mosul, the militant group’s de facto Iraqi capital.
Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq and Syria, told a Pentagon briefing that many of those targeted where military commanders, propagandists and those facilitating foreign recruits into territory controlled by Islamic state, which has sympathizers worldwide. Dorrian further disclosed that “by taking these individuals off the battlefield, it creates some really disruptive effects to enemy command and control. He added that there are now between 3,000 and 4,500 IS fighters left in Mosul, noting that while new fighters are not able to enter the city in large convoys, they continue to move in small formations.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the US would deploy around 600 new troops to Iraq in order to assist Iraqi forces in the battle to retake Mosul from IS militants, who control parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. The US currently has 4,565 troops in Iraq as part of a US-led coalition that is providing extensive air support, training and advise to the Iraqi military, which collapsed in 2014 in the face of Islamic State’s territorial gains and lightning advance towards the capital, Baghdad.
