Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of the United States
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How does the election work?
The winner of the election is determined by an organization called the Electoral College. For each of the 50 states, Washington, D.C. gets the most electoral college votes, adding up to a total of 538 votes. States with more populations than smaller populations receive more electoral college votes.
A candidate must win 270 Electoral College votes (50% plus one) to win the election.
In each of the two states – Maine and Nebraska – the candidate with the most votes won all the electoral college votes in the state.
Because of these rules, a candidate can win an election without getting more votes nationally. This happened in the last election, in which Donald Trump won a majority of electoral college votes, although more people across the United States voted for Hillary Clinton.
How are the results reported?
The Associated Press (AP) reports the election results on this page. When they determine that the backward candidate has no path to success, “call” the winner in a state. This can happen before 100% of the votes are counted in a state.
Estimates for the total votes in each state are also given by Andhra Pradesh. The numbers are updated throughout election night as more information on voter turnout becomes available.
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