A twisted electoral puzzle

This election might have been a no-contest for the Democrats, but given its complicated electoral system, it is not

US presidential elections attract interest for reasons pithily described by Pierre Trudeau: “(Coexisting with the USA) is like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

America is the world’s third-largest nation (population of 340 million); it has the largest economy ($28 trillion, 2023). US military spending was around $916 billion in 2023, or 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product or GDP, and around 40 per cent of global defence spending. It prints the world’s reserve currency and is the largest or second-largest trading