IFES Election Guide | Elections: US Presidency 2024 General

Nov. 5, 2024 Held

United States of America

Election for US Presidency

General Information

At Stake in this Election:

The Presidency and Vice Presidency of the United States of America

Elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives are occurring concurrently.

Government Structure:

Chief of State: President Joseph R. BIDEN, Jr. (since 20 January 2021)

Head of Government: President Joseph R. BIDEN, Jr. (since 20 January 2021)

Assembly: bicameral Congress with 100 seat Senate and 435 seat House of Representatives

Note: the U.S. has a Vice President, elected jointly with the President, who serves as a second-in-command and the President of the United States Senate.

Electoral System:

The President is indirectly elected by majority vote of electors in the Electoral College. Each state is given a number of electors equal to the number of members in congress from said state. The District of Columbia is also given 3 electors. Electors are elected by the public of each state and generally vote in accordance with their state’s popular vote. The President is elected to a 4-year term.

All 100 members of the Senate are generally elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies. They are elected to 6-year terms.

All 435 members of the House of Representatives are generally elected by plurality vote in single-seat constituencies. They are elected to 2-year terms.

Last Election:

In the last election, Joseph R. BIDEN, Jr. won with 306 of 538 electoral votes and 51% of the popular vote. Voter turnout was 67%.

New/Unique in this Election:

Following concerns about President Joseph BIDEN’s age, he withdrew from the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala HARRIS as his replacement on the Presidential ticket. HARRIS quickly received the nomination of the Democratic Party. TRUMP is the first major party candidate in United States history to be a convicted felon, following his conviction on 34 counts of fraud in June 2024.