The United States is celebrating legislative elections this Tuesday, elections that determine the composition of the Congress and the last two years of President Joe Biden’s term.

This is a quick guide to those elections in ten keys.

1. What do you vote for?

The renewal of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, where the deputies last two years, and 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate, where the duration is six years.

Also at stake are the governorates of 36 states and a multitude of state and local offices, such as the Secretaries of State, important for their role in overseeing the elections.

2. How often do you vote?

Every two years. This means that on some occasions the legislative ones coincide in a presidential election year, like in 2020, and that in others, like this one, they take place in the middle of the mandate, so they are also seen as a referendum on presidential work until then.

3. Who has power in Congress?

The Senate has two seats in each of the country’s 50 states and is currently split halfway between Democrats and Republicans. The deciding vote it is in the hands of the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.

In the lower house, the number of representatives per state depends on the number of inhabitants. Democrats are equally in power with 220 of their 435 seats, compared to 212 for Republicans.

4. What impact can the result have?

The legislature determines which political party will control the Senate and House of Representatives for the next two years, in this case starting January 3.

Current political polarization makes it difficult for a formation to pass new laws unless it holds the presidency of the country and the leadership of each chamber, so if Republicans regain legislative power it may hinder the biden administration’s efforts to make new proposals.

Conservatives have warned that they intend to use their potential majority to launch an avalanche of investigations. The motive for the search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida mansion (2017-2021) in August and even the initiation of a political trial against Biden are in his sights.

5. What do the polls say?

Traditionally, the party in the White House is penalized in the mid-term elections. After an optimistic start to the campaign for the Democratic side, the balance has tilted more and more in favor of the Republicans.

The weighted average of polls compiled by the FiveThirtyEight website gives Democrats a 45% chance of retaining their lead in the Senate and only a 16% chance of doing so in the House of Representatives.

6. What are the key states?

In most states, the vote has a clear candidate, so the focus is on those few where the duel is closest. Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, Ohio and Arizona Currently they have the weight of extolling the power of the Senate to one or the other party.

7. What are the themes of the campaign?

The Democrats have played the trump card of their recent legislative victories, such as the inflation or the one that promotes the production of microchips, and argued that Republicans can endanger democracy.

Conservatives warn of increased violence and inflation in the country under democratic leadership, and if they regain legislative power, they plan, among other things, to impose a general veto on abortion.

8. What other topics are they voted on?

Americans will also speak in various states on the right to abortionthe legalization of marijuana, the right to possess and carry a weapon or the prohibition of “enforced servitude” as punishment, a point that affects people in prison and the work they sometimes do in prison without compensation.

9. How many people vote?

The United States has a total of 333.26 million inhabitants, according to the latest census data.

In these elections, 8.3 million young people will be able to vote for the first time. Of these, about 4.5 million are white, another 2 million are Latino, and 1.2 million are black, according to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

In the 2020 presidential election, according to the Pew research center, more than 158.4 million people went to the polls, a figure equal to 62.8% of citizens of voting age. In the 2018 legislative elections, this percentage stood at 47.5%.

10. Preview of the presidential elections of 2024?

Neither Biden nor Trump have officially said they will run for president again, but their suggestions and the importance of this campaign offered a follow-up to their previous showdown at the polls, in 2020, and a taste of what could be. a new electoral duel in two years.

The composition of the Congress will determine the strengths of each and it will open a dance of names in which, in all likelihood, it will not be just Biden and Trump. And from Wednesday a new period will begin with a single date in mind: the presidential elections of November 5, 2024.

Source: EFE

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