Surge in Postal Voting: When Will We Know the Election Results?

The United States 59th presidential election results are still too close to call as many citizens opted to do postal voting due to the pandemic. An excellent hypothetical guess says Friday, November 7, 2020, is the best bet.

Surprisingly, in the US, the election for president and vice president uses the electoral college to determine who will get the seat and not the ordinary popular vote system. In an electoral college process, the election is like two steps as the citizens do not directly elect the two top-level positions. Instead, the American Constitution mandates that two elections will happen. On the first day, which for this year occurred last November 3, 2020, the first Tuesday after November 1, the American citizens cast ballots for each state's electors to form their electoral college. They comprise 538 total electors from an allocated number for each country, including the District of Columbia, equal to its representatives in both houses.

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On the other hand, while US territories are not represented in the electoral college, electors are not assigned. For example, in the state of California, the allocated number of electors is 55. Thus, every October, each party designates 55 electoral pledges to their presidential candidates. Every first Tuesday of November after November 1, registered voters of California votes for the 55 electors of their presidential nominee. The front-runner in each state accumulates its electoral college votes - and requires an absolute majority of electoral votes or a total of 270 to take the White House.

This year's second election is scheduled for December 14, 2020; the electors from all states will vote for president and vice president. The candidates who will receive the majority of the votes from the Electoral College gets the position.

If a tie or no presidential candidate got an absolute majority of the votes, the House of Representatives would choose and select the most qualified candidate. For the vice president's office, the Senate will elect. The said system aims that both houses of people's representatives heard most of the citizens' voices.

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The election for other American governments office follows the popular vote system, including senators, congress members, governors, mayors, et cetera. It is also essential to state that no person holding an office in the United States can serve as an elector.

During the first election day, the election's outcome is clear - though not legitimately confirmed, a precise count of electoral college votes can be completed and a winner avowed. Just like last 2016, at around 2:30 in the morning at Washington, Trump reached the required 270 electors and was announced the winner. That forecast is practically accurate, though not based on the final vote count.

The results this year are taking a little more time, mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although there are several ways to vote in America, many cast their ballots by post to avoid infection making the counting slower.