Early Wednesday morning, in the contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, it was unclear who would win the Electoral College and thus the presidency. However, at time of writing Joe Biden had a decisive lead in the popular vote — just like Hillary Clinton did in 2016. This lead is almost certain to expand markedly as late-arriving ballots, particularly in California where Biden has a huge margin of victory, are collected and tabulated.
No other democratic nation has anything like the Electoral College. In general, they either have a parliamentary system, in which the party that wins the most seats gets to run the government, or a national popular vote for president. The same is true for gubernatorial elections in all the American states, except Mississippi (though even that may be ended soon).
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It's been an anxious night for anyone concerned about who will be the next president of the United States. But if the candidate with the most votes became president, then this election would already be over.
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