No surprise in early polling results in U.S. presidential elections

Source: Xinhua | 11-05-2008 09:26

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- As the Election Night befell on Tuesday, early projected results of the day-long marathon balloting in U.S. general elections have showed no surprises so far as Republican presidential hopeful John McCain carried the traditional red states of Kentucky and West Virginia while his Democratic rival Barack Obama took away Vermont, a traditional solid blue.

McCain collected 13 electoral votes, 8 from Kentucky and 5 from West Virginia. The three electoral votes in Vermont went to Obama.

Considering the historical nature of the 2008 elections and heavy voters turnout, observers are expecting more drama as more results pour in. Early counting shows that McCain temporarily leads in Indiana, a key toss-up state with 11 electoral votes. But Obama leads in the 13-vote Virginia, which is a traditionally Republican stronghold.

Americans elect their president and vice president under the process of the Electoral College. There are 538 electors in the Electoral College, 270 votes are needed to win the presidential election.

So when Americans cast their votes for president and vice president, they actually voting for the set of electors allotted to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The number of electors is equal to a state's number of representatives (based on population) and senators (two per state) in the U.S. Congress. In addition, the District of Columbia has three Electoral College Votes.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei