Understanding the US electorate: Who are they and why do they vote the way they do?

Bongani Bingwa is joined by journalist Redi Tlhabi.

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The 2024 United States presidential election, scheduled to take place today (Tuesday, 5 November), will be the nation's 60th presidential election.

Current Vice President Kamala Harris is going head-to-head with former President Donald Trump for the White House.

The election is being described as a tight race, with both candidates confident of securing the winning number of votes.

But who is the American electorate? 

Tlhabi says it's hard to say for sure.

"One of the biggest challenges facing those who seek to understand US elections is establishing an accurate portrait of the American electorate and the choices made by different kinds of voters."

Redi Tlhabi, Journalist

The American electorate is very unpredictable, says Tlhabi.

"It makes accurate data very difficult to gather."

Redi Tlhabi, Journalist

As things currently stand, many are saying the US election results are too close to call with analysts predicting a close contest between Harris and Trump.

Tlhabi says this is nothing unusual.

"It is always so close. In fact, the fact that Biden beat Trump by 4.4 percentage points the last time was just huge...they usually lose or win by a small margin."

Redi Tlhabi, Journalist

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Tlhabi says opinion is divided over whether such close-run elections are good for the US and good for democracy.

"You could say that this is good for democracy. It means that the contestation is tight, it has detail and so on."

Redi Tlhabi, Journalist

"But there are many who say it is a debilitating thing for a democracy to have these narrow strings. It just is the way of the US."

Redi Tlhabi, Journalist

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