The US Presidential Elections 2020 is all set to take place on November 3. An event that is discussed in drawing rooms, office cafeteria, tea shops and news rooms, it is one of the most anticipated events of the world. However, many would have a blank face when asked about how a US President is elected.
In parliamentary democracies like India, the Prime Minister is the Head of the Government while the President is the Head of the State. In the United States, the President is both the Head of the State and the Government and hence the governance system is called as a presidential democracy.
In most democracies, the head of the government/state is elected by a popular vote i.e., the party or candidate with most number of votes win. However, in the US, things work differently. In this explainer, we break it down for you.
Who is eligible to run for the office of President Of The United States (POTUS)?
A candidate who:
a) is a natural-born citizen of the United States,
b) is at least 35 years of age
c) has been a resident of the United States for 14 years
becomes eligible to run for the office of POTUS.
When does the US Presidential Elections happen?
The election is held on the first Tuesday of November. This has been the norm since 1845, which was instated by the US Congress at that time. Voting in the US begins a few weeks before Election Day as a large number of voters exercise their franchise by email or by direct vote. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of mail votes are expected to increase by a great percentage. The ballots will carry the faces of Joe Biden of Democratic Party and Donald Trump from the Republican Party. However, this is only the final leg of the entire election process.
How is the US President elected?
The US President is not directly elected by the people but instead by a body called the ‘Electoral College’. The Electoral College comprises of delegates from each of the 50 states. So, when American exercise their franchise, they are not directly electing the President but are voting who their state will vote for, i.e., electing delegates to the Electoral College who will then elect the President.
So, that is why we come across terms like ‘popular vote’ and the ‘electoral vote’. A candidate with the popular vote may not necessarily get the electoral vote to become President. This has happened 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016.
It is expected that 2020 too might throw up the same scenario with Joe Biden expected to win the ‘popular vote’ while Donald Trump becomes the President securing the required ‘electoral vote’.
Ok, so how many people are elected to the ‘Electoral College’?
The number of delegates from a particular state depends on the number of representatives the state has in the US Congress. The number of representatives in the House of Representatives (Lower House) depends on the population of the state while every state by default has 2 Senators in the Senate (Upper House). A state like Texas which has 36 representatives in the House of Representatives (Lower House) and 2 Senators will have 38 delegates in the electoral college while Alaska, a state with 1 representative in the Lower House and 2 Senators will have 3 delegates in the electoral college.
In all, there are 538 electors and a Presidential candidate requires the support of at least 270 to win the electoral vote and become President. So, the Presidential candidates strategize their campaigns to get the electoral votes required to become President.
But, how do the two parties decide who their candidates are for the Presidential Elections?
Primaries and Caucasus
Most candidates for president go through a series of state Primaries and Caucuses. Though both Primaries and Caucasus serve the same purpose, they are run differently. Primaries are simple and less cumbersome. State Primaries are run by state and local governments and voting happens through a secret ballot. Caucuses on the other hand are private meetings run by political parties at the county, district, or precinct level. In these caucuses, participants divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support with the undecided voters forming their own group. Each group gives speeches supporting its candidate and tries to get others to join its group. At the end, the number of voters in each group determines how many delegates each candidate has won.
Primaries and Caucasus can be held open, closed or a mix of the two. In an open Primary/Caucasus all people can vote for a candidate of any political party. In a closed Primary/Caucasus only voters registered with a particular party can take part and vote.
The candidates who make it through the Primaries/Caucasus become the delegates to the National Convention, the next step.
National Conventions
After the Primaries and Caucuses, each major party, Democrat and Republican, holds a National Convention to finalize the Presidential nominee from their side.
The National Convention is a large gathering, usually held at a stadium or a big open space, with selected delegates from each state who choose the Presidential candidates rather than members of the public. At this gathering, the delegates vote and the party announces who is going to run for the Presidential elections from their party.
The party’s Presidential nominee announces his or her choice for Vice President. The President – Vice President duo of each party is from then on called a ‘ticket’.
To put in a nut shell – members of the public/registered voter of a party votes for delegates supporting a particular Presidential candidate in the Primaries and Caucasus and these delegates gather at the National Convention to finalize the Presidential candidate.
Following this, the Presidential candidates campaign throughout the country to win the support of the general population and three public debates are held between the Presidential candidates where they lay out the policies and the principles they stand for.
Who are the candidates for this year’s elections?
The United States have a two party system with – Democrats and the Republicans being the only two parties. The Democratic candidate for the year is Joe Biden, with his running mate as Kamala Harris. The incumbent Republican government, which is being led by President Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence are seeking another term.
What happens on election day?
Any US citizen who is at least 18 years of age, vote for the local representatives (electors) of their Presidential candidate belonging to the Democrat or Republican party. (The two states – Maine and Nebraska follow a different process). The party that gets the most number of votes grabs all the seats of the electoral college of the particular state. For example, if out of 10,000 votes, the Republican representative gets 5000 votes or more, then all the seats of the electoral college of that state goes to the Republicans.
While the Democrats and Republics have certain states locked in their favour, a handful of states decide the fate of the entire election process. These are called the ‘swing states’ as they have the potential to swing the favours. It is in these states that the Presidential candidates focus their campaigns.
The states of Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin are considered as “perennial” swing states that have regularly seen close contests over the last few presidential campaigns.
In the next few hours, Americans will be deciding who will be their next President for the next four years.