US Election 2020: when is the election, Electoral College explained and what the polls say about Donald Trump vs Joe Biden

Trump is vying for a second term in the White House
The United States' next president will be Joe Biden or Donald Trump (Getty Images)The United States' next president will be Joe Biden or Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The United States' next president will be Joe Biden or Donald Trump (Getty Images)

President Donald Trump is approaching the end of his first term in the Oval Office meaning another US Election is just around the corner.

Four years on from the 45th president’s brutal battle with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump takes on former vice-president Joe Biden – and any hopes of a gentlemanly contest appear faint.

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Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, the mud-slinging has already got underway with the candidates exchanging personal and political blows at the first debate. And now the campaign has been thrown into disarray after President Trump tested positive for coronavirus.

As the machines of both campaigns gear up for the election, here’s everything you need to know about the race to the White House.

When is the US election?

Americans from 50 states will cast their vote on November 3.

The results of the vote should be known the morning after, though it can take days to count every vote.

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The winner will not be inaugurated immediately – this will take place on January 20.

Who are the candidates?

Donald Trump is representing the Republican party as he attempts to land another four years in power.

He’s taken on by Democrat Joe Biden who served as Vice President under 44th president Barack Obama. The 77-year-old served in the US Senate from 1973 to 2009 for the state of Delaware. He previously sought for the democratic nomination in 1988 and 2008.

How does the election work?

The winner of the election will be decided by an electoral college vote, rather than a popular vote.

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This means that each state is worth a certain amount of electoral college votes proportionate to its population, with the winner requiring 270 votes. The candidates with the most votes in a state get all the electoral college votes, apart for Maine and Nebraska.

Controversially Trump won the electoral college vote in 2016, despite receiving a smaller share of the popular vote.

Who’s the favourite?

Biden currently holds an ten-point lead over current incumbent Trump according to a poll of polls compiled by CNN released on October 19.

This lead is far from unassailable, however, some polls gave Hillary Clinton a 15 point advantage going into the 2016 election and we all know how that turned out.