Kathmandu: The week leading up to November 3 has been filled with instances mostly unheard of during the US Presidential races in the past. From Dr. Anthony Fauci lashing out at the US President, Biden’s bus incident that prompted the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the various doubts surrounding the electoral college, the run up to the 2020 Election Day has been one steaming controversy after the next.

With a single day remaining for the Election Day, the two candidates have been increasing their engagements in the battleground states, most often referred to as the swing states, that are projected to be decisive areas for the Presidential race.

The Campaign trails: Battleground states

The Presidential candidates are on their last leg of campaign trails, and they are all set to lock horns in the battleground states.

As per the Reuters, the Republican nominee is ahead in Monday’s national election polling, a day before the conclusion of the race. Trump is scourging four battleground states as Biden seeks to gain the upper hand in Ohio, that has a record for backing the winner in most election races and Pennsylvania, that has likewise backed 20 of the past 25 Presidents.

There are thirteen vital battleground states for the Presidential Elections as per CBS News: Ohio (with 18 electoral votes), Iowa (6 electoral votes), Georgia (16 electoral votes), North Carolina (15 electoral votes), Nevada (6 electoral votes), Florida (29 electoral votes), Arizona (11), Texas (38 electoral votes), Minnesota (10 electoral votes), Wisconsin (10 electoral votes), Pennsylvania (20 electoral votes), Michigan (16 electoral votes), and New Hampshire (4 electoral votes). With more than 92 million ballots having been cast as of yet – the highest since 1908, these states will be crucial in determining the outcome of the race.

Biden has a narrow lead in the polls in Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Trump has a clear lead in Texas, and both the nominees are going head to head in Iowa and Ohio. However, there are always margins of error involved within these calculations, and it becomes significant to pay heed to the fact that voters are sometimes easily swayed, by the time that they go to cast their ballots. CNN has, moreover, claimed that Trump is only leading in two battleground states.

Significance of the Electoral College

The Electoral College is the actual determining body that will cast its electoral votes to select the next President of the United States of America. The candidates would require a total of 270 votes to be be considered a winner in the race.

And the process is not as simple as it would seem at a a cursory glance. Only half the states in the US have the rule to vote for the winning candidate in the state, but the Supreme Court has never actually ruled on the legality of the laws, that in many instances are considered to be vague. Additionally, if there is a tie that results from these votes, the deliberation would be forwarded to the House of Representatives, that currently holds a democratic majority. The decision is made by the delegation of each state, “as a statewide block.”

As CNN has predicted, Trump has 125 electoral votes firmly on his side, and if he secures even four of the battleground states – Ohio, Arizona, Georgia, and Texas, that have typically favored the Republican nominees, he would gain a total of 208 electoral votes. Furthermore, if he manages to win Iowa, North Carolina and Pennsylvania (all are states he won in the 2016 elections), he would guarantee a second term in the White House. The probability is incredibly small, but it is still there.

Joe Biden, in contrast, has a more easy path set out in front of him. He already has around 203 electoral votes on his side. If he wins Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he would be the next President, even if he loses Ohio, Iowa, Florida, Texas, Georgia and Nevada.

Amongst the votes and the final campaign runs are issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Biden bus incident that sparked an FBI investigation in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), openly spoke up on Saturday against Donald Trump in a Washington Post article, whereby he criticized the current administrations COVID-19 managements efforts. Going against the President’s current comments that the country is “rounding the turn” in the fight against the virus, he mentioned that the US should expect a “a whole lot of hurt.” It has resulted in the White House criticizing Fauci, and “Fire Fauci” calls being rampant in one of Trump’s recent rallies.

Moreover, another noteworthy incident that made headlines this elections season was when Joe Biden’s campaign bus was surrounded by voters, who allegedly were Trump supporters, in San Antonia, Texas. Biden and Kamala Harris were not riding the vehicle at that moment. On Friday, motorists who were sporting Republican colors, supposedly try to slow the bus down and run it off track. Trump in turn claimed that the individuals were trying to protect the bus, and on Saturday tweeted “I LOVE TEXAS,” with a video of the incident and claimed that the motorists were “patriots” after the FBI announced that they were investigating the case.

The end of the year will signal the route that the voting ballot and the Electoral College takes. In the intense weeks that have led to the decisions, with a clear win for many, it is important to note that the Republican candidate had already visibly altered the US’s institutional structures and the nation’s place in the world. Much of Joe Biden’s possible term will be spent in dealing with the after effects of the Trump Presidency. The Election Day, on November 3, is expected to bring in more voters to the ballots as well.