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The first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is finally here. The nominees will face off this evening in Philadelphia at the National Constitutional Center.
The last presidential debate featured a different candidate on the Democratic side: President Joe Biden. Trump made many false claims during the debate, but Biden’s poor performance ultimately led to his dropping from the race.
With eight weeks to go until election day, the debate will help undecided voters form their opinions on who they’ll vote for come November.
Here’s a look back at the 2020 presidential election and the resulting Electoral College votes:
Number of Electoral College votes by state
The presidency is decided by vote of the Electoral College, a temporary slate of 538 electors, all chosen by their state political parties. Each elector casts one vote; a presidential candidate needs 270 of these votes to win.
Trump won 232 electoral votes in the 2020 Presidential Election. His opponent and current President Joe Biden won 306 electoral votes.
Here’s how the Electoral College voted by state:
Breakdown of the Electoral College
The Electoral College is the presidential voting process established by the Constitution. Generally, the candidate who wins the most votes in a state gets that state’s electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska split up these votes.
For example, Nebraska gave Trump four of its five electoral votes in 2020 and Biden one. How many electoral votes a state gets is based on how many members of Congress it has, which is based on population size.
States with the earliest, early vote periods
Early voting will take place this year again and several states start the process in the coming weeks.
The process allows U.S. citizens with a valid ID to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to the presidential election.
These are some of the states with the earliest options to vote early in person, according to data compiled by NCSL. Some states describe it differently, like “early voting” or “in-person absentee,” but NCSL counts it so long as it is available to all voters.
- California – Oct. 7
- Illinois – Sept. 26
- Minnesota – Sept. 20
- Nebraska – Oct. 7
- Pennsylvania – Sept. 16
- Vermont – Ballots available at least 45 days before the election
- Virginia – Sept. 20
- Wyoming – Oct. 8
