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Removed from the boring rematch that had many People tuning out politics, the 2024 presidential election has had wild twists and scary turns.
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No person anticipated President Joe Biden’s campaign to implode in less than a month, from the shock of his efficiency at CNN’s debate in late June to his resolution to step apart within the race in late July. Democrats went from actually freaking out about his candidacy to a brand new pleasure about Vice President Kamala Harris as his substitute.
No person anticipated an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, an occasion that unified Republicans round him and has many in his occasion displaying a form of divine reverence for his near-death expertise.
So we don’t know what particularly will occur within the subsequent 100 days till Election Day on November 5, or what may come after, when the nation’s distinctive Electoral School course of will get going. However we do have some thought of what to anticipate:
August: Nominating Harris, selecting a VP and a conference in Chicago
Whereas the Democratic Occasion nearly instantly rallied round Harris as its nominee, it nonetheless must formally choose her. Delegates will try this in brief order, between August 1 and August 7, earlier than the conference, a backstop maneuver to ward towards poll modifications.
Harris can even want to select a operating mate. Search for that to happen quickly, in line with CNN’s Jeff Zeleny, and never proper earlier than the conference, as ceaselessly happens.
In late August, Democrats will convene in Chicago for his or her conference. Count on essentially the most unbelievable reception for Biden. Democrats have pivoted from worrying over his election prospects to lionizing him as a hero.
Earlier within the month, Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s operating mate, turns 40. He’d be the third-youngest vp in US historical past and the primary millennial in nationwide elected workplace if the Republican ticket wins. With Biden out of the race, Vance is on the ticket with the oldest major-party nominee in historical past with Trump, a child boomer.
Biden and Trump had agreed to a second debate, hosted by ABC Information, to happen on September 10. However with Biden out of the race, Trump has steered he might not take part in a debate sponsored by ABC. As an alternative, the Trump marketing campaign steered a debate on Fox Information, and that community has suggested September 17.
Each side appear wanting to debate, so search for particulars to emerge.
The primary early voting can even get underway in September. North Carolina is the primary state to ship mail-in ballots, on September 6, however different states will observe go well with within the weeks after.
Again in class and again to work, many People could begin to pay extra consideration to the election in September. There can even be some touchstone moments within the cultural zeitgeist, similar to when “Saturday Evening Reside” premiers on the finish of the month and everybody will discover out if Maya Rudolph will return as Harris – and we discover out who will play Vance.
Trump additionally faces sentencing for his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying enterprise information associated to hush cash funds earlier than the 2016 election. That September 18 date may slip because the court docket reacts to new immunity granted to presidents by the Supreme Court docket.
Election Day isn’t till November 5, however most states permit some type of early voting, both by mail or in individual, and that course of will kick into overdrive in October.
Most People, almost 70%, voted early or by mail in 2020, in line with census figures, though that determine was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The campaigns shall be centered on getting out the vote within the few key battleground states they assume are up for grabs. In 2020, Biden received 5 states that Trump received in 2016. These states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – may once more be the main target in 2024 when Harris, who turns 60 in October, takes on Trump.
November: Election Day and past
US regulation requires federal elections to happen on the Tuesday after the primary Monday in November. This yr, that’s November 5.
Individuals who don’t vote early will hit their native voting location. Polls will shut at completely different occasions across the nation. As a result of rise of voting by mail, if key states are shut, like they had been in 2020, we most likely received’t know the winner on Election Day.
Regardless, anticipate lawsuits in sure states and the potential for recounts in others. Election Day is way from the top of the election.
Towards the top of November, Biden turns 82.
After questions concerning the election are settled, states verify, or verify, their statewide outcomes. Electors collect of their respective state capitols to solid electoral votes for his or her statewide winner.
Nebraska and Maine additionally allocate some electoral votes by congressional district, and these might be pivotal in a detailed race.
The brand new Congress takes the oath of workplace on January 3. It’s this new Congress that, within the unlikely occasion of an Electoral School tie, would settle the election. Every state would get one vote for president within the Home of Representatives.
In any occasion, lawmakers collect on January 6, as everybody ought to bear in mind from 2020, to rely electoral votes. Harris will preside. She may both be the fifth vice president in history to supervise her personal Electoral School victory, or the fourth in historical past to supervise her personal Electoral School defeat.
On January 20, 2025, the following president takes the oath of workplace.