How and when is the president defined in US elections? Understand
Trump won with fewer votes. In 2016, for example, Donald Trump won the election despite having fewer popular votes than Hillary Clinton, as he obtained sufficient support from delegates in strategic states such as California, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The investigation does not happen immediately. While the winner is usually projected on election night, the official vote by Electoral College delegates takes place in mid-December when they meet in their states to confirm the result.
If there is a tie or no candidate reaches a majority of votes, the election passes to the Chamber of Deputies, where each state has the right to one vote. This procedure has only been used twice in American history: in 1800 and 1824.
Calculation time
The calculation time in the USA can vary greatly. In 2016, the results came out the morning after Election Day, with Donald Trump declared the winner. In 2020, the count took five days until Joe Biden’s victory was confirmed, due to the fierce dispute, which required the careful counting of each vote.
How voters choose to vote also influences the speed of the count. In the USA, it is possible to vote in three ways: on election day, in person, as in Brazil; in advance, also in person; or by mail, sending the vote days or even weeks in advance. When there are many postal votes, as in 2020, the counting process tends to take longer.
