senate
*Includes independents
27/34 a race called
First results expected after 18.00 EST (15.00 PST or 23.00 GMT)
*Includes independents
27/34 a race called
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How are elections in the United States conducted?
The United States’ legislative body, Congress, has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
How is the House of Commons elected and how does it function?
The lower house, the House of Representatives, has 435 voting seats, each representing a district of roughly the same size. Elections are held for each of these seats every two years.
The Speaker of the House is the speaker of the chamber elected by the members. The House has several exclusive powers, including the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and choose the president in the event of a tie.
How is the Senate elected and how does it function?
The upper house, the Senate, has 100 members and serves a six-year term. One-third of the seats are up for election every two years. Each state has two senators, regardless of population. This means that Wyoming, which has a population of less than 600,000 people, has the same weight as California, which has a population of about 40 million.
In most states, the candidate who receives the most votes on election day wins the seat. However, Georgia and Louisiana require the winning candidate to receive 50% of the vote. If no one votes, a runoff will be held between the top two candidates.
Although most bills must pass both chambers to become law, the Senate has several other important functions, most notably confirming senior presidential appointments to the Supreme Court. The Senate also has sole authority to advise the president, consent to ratification of treaties, and hear impeachment cases of federal officials referred by the House of Representatives.
How are governors elected and how do they function?
Governors are elected by direct vote in each state. The candidate with the most votes will be declared the winner.
In every state, the executive branch is headed by a governor. The term of office is four years, except in Vermont and New Hampshire, where the term is two years.
The governor is responsible for enforcing state law and has broad powers, including executive orders, executive budgets, legislative proposals and vetoes.
How are results reported?
Election results on this page are reported by the Associated Press. If the AP determines that the trailing candidate has no path to victory, it will “call” the winner of that state. This could occur before 100% of the state’s votes have been counted.
Estimates of the total number of votes cast for each state are also provided by the AP. Figures will be updated overnight and the day after the election as more data on turnout becomes available.
Some elections use a ranked choice voting system that allows voters to rank candidates in their preferred order. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and the votes of his supporters are counted as the next candidate. The Guardian has marked these elections where applicable and shows the final results including the redistributed votes.
Illustration by Sam Kerr. Cartogram by Pablo Gutierrez.
