By Norman Isaac Mwambazi
Democrat Joseph Robinette Joe Biden Jr. has defeated Republican and incumbent Donald Trump in the 2020 US election to become the 46th President of the United States of America.
The former Vice President, who served in that position for eight years during the Obama administration, collected 290 Electoral College votes, way above Trump’s 214 in the so far counted votes.
In the Electoral College system, a candidate needs to win 270 votes (50% plus 1) of the total 538 votes to win the election.
Watch: “I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify; who doesn’t see red states or blue states, only sees the United States.” Joe Biden delivers a speech to the nation for the first time as President-elect https://t.co/LELgRDmToc pic.twitter.com/AZI0aQwucq
— TIME (@TIME) November 8, 2020
Due to this system, a candidate can win the election without getting the most votes at the national level. This happened at the last election, in which Donald Trump won a majority of Electoral College votes although more people voted for Hillary Clinton across the US.
The Associated Press (AP) “called” this race after determining that Trump no longer has any mathematical chance of victory. This can happen before 100% of votes in every state have been counted.
Americans are also electing members to the two chambers of Congress, the main law-making body of the US. Those chambers are the Senate and the House of Representatives. Without support in the Senate and the House, the president’s ability to enact key policies is severely limited.
SENATE
Democrats: 48 (Includes two independents)
Republicans: 48
HOUSE
Democrats: 214
Republicans: 195.
The President-elect is sworn in on January 20th or January 21st if January 20th falls on a Sunday at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.
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