Derfor kan man blive USA's præsident uden flertallet af alle stemmerne Why you can become President of the United States without a majority of all votes Pourquoi il est possible de devenir président des États-Unis sans la majorité de tous les votes

For at vinde USA's præsidentvalg skal man ikke have flest stemmer. To win the US presidential election, you don't need the most votes.

Man skal have flest samlede stemmer fra valgmændene. You need to get the most total votes from voters.

USA består af 50 delstater. The USA consists of 50 states.

Hver delstat har ud fra størrelsen på befolkningen et antal valgmænd. Each state has a number of electors based on the size of its population.

Den mest folkerige delstat, Californien, har 55 valgmænd. The most populous state, California, has 55 electors.

Mens en mere tyndt befolket delstat som Wyoming har 3. While a more sparsely populated state like Wyoming has 3.

Den med flest personlige stemmer får alle delstatens valgmænd. The one with the most personal votes gets all the state's electors.

Den med flest stemmer i Californien får derfor alle 55 valgmænd. The person with the most votes in California therefore gets all 55 electors.

Delstaterne Maine og Nebraska har dog et andet system. However, the states of Maine and Nebraska have a different system.

Samlet set er der i hele landet 538 valgmænd. In total, there are 538 electors across the country.

For at vinde valget og pladsen i Det Hvide Hus - To win the election and the White House.

- kræves der 270 af valgmændenes stemmer, altså flertallet. - 270 of the electorate's votes are required, i.e. a majority.

USA's hovedstad, Washington, ligger ikke i en delstat - The capital of the United States, Washington, is not located in a state.

- men i området District of Columbia. - but in the District of Columbia area.

District of Columbia har tre ud af landets 538 valgmænd. The District of Columbia has three of the country's 538 electors.

To kandidater kæmper om posten. Two candidates are vying for the position.

En fra hver af landets store partier: Republikanerne og Demokraterne. One from each of the country's major parties: Republicans and Democrats.

Der er dog flere kandidater fx fra andre partier. However, there are several candidates from other parties.

Men det er som oftest usandsynligt, at de kan løbe med den samlede sejr. But it's usually unlikely that they can take the overall victory.

Lad os tage det hele i en forsimplet udgave. Let's take it all in a simplified version.

USA's delstater og District of Columbia har 538 valgmænd - The US states and the District of Columbia have 538 electors

- fordelt efter befolkningsstørrelse. - broken down by population size.

Den, der får flest stemmer i en delstat, får alle statens valgmænd. Whoever gets the most votes in a state gets all the state's electors.

Når en kandidat har vundet delstater nok til at have 270 valgmænd - When a candidate has won enough states to have 270 electors

- er vedkommende den næste præsident. - he or she is the next president.

Systemet har eksisteret siden forfatningen i 1789. The system has existed since the constitution of 1789.

Man ville beskytte demokratiet og befolkningens interesser. They wanted to protect democracy and the interests of the people.

For at undgå at præsidenten blev valgt af stemmer fra områder - In order to avoid the president being elected by votes from areas

- hvor man kunne have interesser, der ikke tilgodeså hele landet. - where you could have interests that didn't serve the whole country.

Med systemet får de tyndt befolkede stater mere indflydelse - The system gives sparsely populated states more influence

- end hvis det kun handlede om at få flest personlige stemmer. - than if it was just about getting the most personal votes.

Delstatens valgmænd udregnes ved at lægge antallet af senatorer - The state's electoral college is calculated by adding the number of senators -

- sammen med antal medlemmer i Repræsentanternes Hus - - along with the number of members in the House of Representatives -

- der svarer til delstatens antal valgdistrikter. - which corresponds to the number of electoral districts in the state.

Valgmænd afgiver hver især deres stemme til en præsidentkandidat. Electors each cast their vote for a presidential candidate.

Det sker først en måneds tid efter selve valget. This won't happen until a month after the actual election.

Så det er reelt først der, præsidenten bliver fundet. So it's really only then that the president is found.