American voters are heading to the polls soon to decide who they want as their next president.
The election campaign has sparked fierce debate online over everything from deepfakes of Kamala Harris to conspiracy theories around the assassination attempts on Donald Trump.
The impact on social media platforms has been huge, with TikTok revealing that in the week after Trump was shot at, the number of posts about him on TikTok increased by nearly 800%, while video views jumped from 1 billion to 6 billion.
Away from the viral headlines, people have also been taking to social media in an attempt to get their heads around how exactly US politics works. With that in mind, here's some of the most frequently asked questions about the elections.
When is the US election taking place?
The US election will take place on Tuesday 5 November 2024. A US election occurs every four years and the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the United States, stipulates that a president is limited to two four-year terms in office. Prior to a 1951 amendment to the Constitution, a president could serve an unlimited number of terms.
Who are the US election candidates?
Former President Donald Trump, who was previously sworn in as the 45th US president in January 2017, is standing against the country’s current Vice President Kamala Harris. She stepped up to run in the election after the current President Joe Biden announced in July that he was not going to run for re-election.
What are the main US political parties?
The two main US political parties are the Democratic Party whose candidate is Kamala Harris, and the Republican Party whose candidate is Donald Trump.
In US elections, the presidential candidates seek to build political support across different regions and groups and each of the parties contain a range of people from across society.
How do the parties choose their candidate?
The two main parties nominate a candidate by holding a series of votes called state primaries and caucuses where each party’s supporters decide who they want to run for president.
Primaries are elections that political parties use to select their presidential candidate and most states hold these six to nine months before an election. Voters choose their preferred candidate anonymously by casting ballots.
Several states hold caucuses, which are events where presidential hopefuls make appearances to put forward their case to be the party's candidate. After each of these, party members vote for who they think should be the candidate until the list is eventually whittled down to one.
After Joe Biden stepped aside in July, he backed his deputy – Kamala Harris – to take over. There were no Democratic Party challengers and Harris quickly gathered enough support from members of the party to be nominated as their new candidate.
How is the president of the US elected?
The two successful candidates compete to win contests that are held across the 50 states and Washington DC. In total there are 538 votes up for grabs across the country and he winner of the election is the candidate who wins 270 or more of these.
Who can vote in the US presidential election?
Most US citizens who are aged 18 or over are eligible to vote in the presidential election. US citizens who live abroad can register to vote and request an absentee postal ballot.
When will we know the result of the US election?
The winner is usually declared on the night of the election, but in 2020 it took a few days to count all the votes. If there is a change of president then the period after the election is known as the transition. This gives the new administration time to appoint cabinet secretaries and make plans for the new term.
When is the president officially sworn into office?
This happens in January in a ceremony known as the inauguration that's held on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington DC.
When is the next US election?
The winner of a US election serves a term of four years in the White House so the next US election is likely to happen in November 2028.
Who was the first president of the United States?
George Washington was elected as the first president of the USA in 1789.
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