Sunday, 22 December 2024
Sunday, 22 December 2024
The US Presidential election takes place every four years on the first Tuesday of November. This year, it is scheduled for November 5.
As per Article II, Clause 5 of the United States Constitution, the President must be “a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States” who is at least 35 years old and has been a resident of the US for at least 14 years.
No one can be President for more than two terms.
There are two ways of running for President of the US. One is to win the nomination from either of the two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, or one can run as a third-party or independent candidate – like rapper Kanye West did in 2020 and Jill Stein is doing this year.
How Americans elect their President is a complicated process and it can be confusing to understand. Fret not, here’s help.
Primaries and Caucuses
Primaries and caucuses are two methods that states use to select a presidential nominee for both the Republican and Democratic parties. Some states hold primaries, some hold caucuses. These usually begin in January or February of a presidential election year.
In a primary, voters go to a polling booth to cast a secret ballot like we vote in India. In a caucus, voters gather at a polling place to hear speeches and take part in debates before they cast their votes.
Some states allow only party members to vote in primaries; others hold open primaries where all registered voters can vote.
The purpose of primaries (elections) and caucuses (private events held by political parties) is the same, which is to determine how many “delegates” from the state each candidate will get.
These delegates later vote for their assigned candidate at their party’s national convention.
Caucuses are meetings political parties hold at county, district, or precinct levels. Groups are formed according to the candidate the members support. The number of voters in each group determines how many delegates a candidate wins.
Victories in primaries and caucuses held very early in the election year, such as those in New Hampshire and Iowa, respectively, usually set the trend.
National Convention
To select their presidential and vice presidential nominees, the two main US political parties hold national conventions after the primaries.
Apart from the pledged candidates – who must vote for their candidate at the national convention – elected via primaries and caucuses, there are "unpledged" delegates who have a vote. For Republicans, they are the three top party officials from each state and territory. Democrats have "superdelegates" who are party leaders and elected officials.
A Democratic or Republican candidate must win the votes of a majority of delegates at the party’s national convention to become the party’s presidential nominee.
Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, required 1,215 delegates to win the party’s nomination. He won 2,243 delegates.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, needed 1,976 delegates to win her party’s nomination. She won 4,567 delegates.
Electoral College
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors who actually elect the President and vice president – not the voters who cast their votes on election day.
There is one elector for every US representative – similar to India’s Lok Sabha member – and US senator – similar to Rajya Sabha member – a state has, plus three for Washington, DC.
As a result, California, the most populous US state, has 54 electors, and Delaware has three.
The electors, according to The New York Times, “are usually people involved with politics, like activists or volunteers”.
Most American states use a winner-takes-all system of electors. Meaning that whoever wins the most votes in the state wins all of the state’s electoral college votes. So, someone who wins the maximum votes in California wins the state’s 54 electors.
Except for Maine and Nebraska. These two states allocate two electoral votes to the one who wins the maximum number of votes, and one electoral vote to the one who wins the maximum votes in each congressional district (similar to our Lok Sabha constituency).
The winning candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes, just over half of 538.
“In almost every state, electors are bound by law to vote for the candidate their state picked,” according to The New York Times.
Popular vote vs Electoral College
The system of Electoral College votes means it is possible that a candidate may win the maximum number of votes across the country, but lose the presidential election. In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote by 600,000 votes but lost Florida and its 21 electors because he got only 937 less votes than George W. Bush in the state.
As a result, Gore lost the Electoral College 271–267, and Bush was crowned the President of the United States.
The electors cast their votes on December 17 and on January 6, the US Congress – similar to India’s Parliament – confirms the results.
The new US President is inaugurated – takes charge – on January 20.
