President
The race to 270
Americans pick their preferred candidate for president, but they dont directly elect that person. The electoral college vote determines the winner.
There are 538 electoral college votes in all, making 270 the minimum number a candidate must take in order to win the election.
Related |How the U.S. elects a president
Related |CBC's U.S. election live blog
State-by-state results
Leading or winning candidate by state
- Democrat win
- Democrat leading
- Other
- Republican leading
- Republican win
The election landscape
Electoral college votes are determined by the number of U.S. Congress members each state has, so bigger states have more votes for example, California (55) and Texas (38). But most states are either Democratic or Republican strongholds, so the election is likely to be decided in "battleground" states that is, states where the polls are showing tight races or where votes have historically been close.
Related | Presidential Poll Tracker: Éric Grenier's state-by-state projections
Battleground states
Éric Grenier's list of states most likely to determine the election outcome
Search any state by name
Senate
The battle for the Senate
The Senate contains 100 seats (two for each state), but senators terms are staggered, which means that every two years, one-third of the seats come up for election. That means there are 34 seats in play this year.
The Senate has the power to confirm presidential appointees, including ambassadors and Supreme Court justices.
The latter is especially crucial this year, as the government seeks to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court in light of Antonin Scalias death. President Barack Obama named Merrick Garland as Scalias replacement, but the Republican-controlled Senate has held off on confirming him in the hope Trump wins the presidency, thereby giving Republicans the opportunity to pick their own justice.
One of the big questions heading into the election was whether or not the Democrats would be able to retake control of the Senate. The Republicans this year were defending 24 Senate seats; the Democrats, 10. To wrest control from the Republicans, Democrats needed to gain five seats. They did not, and Republicans were on track to end up with a total 52 seats, two less than they had going into the vote.
More about what's at stake in the House and Senate | Americans voting for a lot more than just the president
Senate representation by state
Each state has two senators
- Democrat DEM
- Republican REP
- Other OTH
- Undetermined TBD
House
In the House
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election this year. Republicans hold a more significant majority of the seats here than in the Senate. The Democrats would need to pick up 30 seats to flip the House.
One of the unique responsibilities of the House is that it can initiate budget bills, as well as proceedings to impeach a president.
More about what's at stake in the House and Senate | Americans voting for a lot more than just the president
House representation by state
The number of representatives is proportional to each states population
- * Precinct refers to a U.S. electoral district. Each precinct has a designated location where residents go to vote. ↩
- ** This is an unusual situation in which the field of non-Democrat, non-Republican candidates combined take the largest share of the popular vote. ↩
- *** If no candidate receives 50 per cent of the vote, a runoff election will be held between the two top candidates at a later date.↩
NOTE: Results are not final until certified by electoral authorities in each state.