The US federal election officially begins this week, but Americans won’t vote for president until November 5. — that seems illogical, doesn’t it?
And yet both things are true.
This is because America has many contests to choose who will officially run for the White House before the presidential election decides who will lead the country.
Many expect it to come down to Donald Trump and Joe Biden – which would essentially be a rematch of the last election.
It is almost certain that Joe Biden will appear on Americans’ ballots in November. The Republican race is the most competitive, but this year it’s less competitive than usual, with Donald Trump the clear favorite to win.
But we can’t say for sure until we see how candidates perform in state-by-state contests over the next few months.
Compared to how Australia chooses its prime minister, the US system is complicated and confusing, which is why we’ve detailed what will happen.
Why are some Americans voting now?
First of all, it’s important to note that voting is optional in the United States and therefore not all Americans vote, only those who want to – more on that later.
And they’re not voting on who becomes president – remember, it’s only November 5th.
They vote on who will appear on the ballot on election day.
There are two major parties in the United States – the Republicans and the Democrats – and each nominates only one candidate for president.
There are other minor parties and citizens can run for president independently, but ultimately it all depends on the Republican and Democratic candidates.
And ordinary Americans have the opportunity to vote for the candidates they want during what’s called primary season.
This is a big difference from Australia, where party leaders are the prime ministerial candidates – and those party leaders are chosen by politicians, not the general Australian public.
What is primary season?
This is the period when the Republican and Democratic parties essentially hold mini-elections in each of the 50 states and five U.S. territories.
There are also elections in the District of Columbia and the Democratic Party is also holding one for its out-of-state members.
And how they work is decided by parties and states, so they’re all a little different.
This means that they do not all take place on the same day: the first is organized by the Republicans in Iowa on Monday (local time) and the last ones do not take place until June.
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More than 100 of these elections will take place between now and June.
They will either take the form of what is called a presidential primary or a caucus.
What is a presidential primary?
Presidential primaries are conducted similarly to general elections, in that voters go to a voting booth and cast their ballots at any time of the day on Election Day.
This is the most common form of candidate election.
Primaries are usually run by the state, but not always.
What is a caucus?
Caucuses are essentially meetings organized by political parties.
And they can take place at the county, district or constituency level – so they can become quite large.
At the end of these meetings, participants vote for a candidate – sometimes by secret ballot, sometimes simply by gathering together physically.
Who can vote during the primary season?
It depends on the rules of the state and political parties, The USAGov website explains.
Once again, the situation is different across the country.
Some primaries and caucuses are called open, where people do not need to be registered with a party to vote in that party’s elections.
Some are closed and voting is restricted to registered members of that party.
And there are also hybrid versions of open and closed primaries and caucuses.
Let’s take as an example what happens tomorrow in Iowa.
Only registered Republican voters can vote in the Iowa Republican caucus and only registered Democratic voters can vote in the Iowa Democratic caucus.
And before you ask, Iowa laws state that people can only participate in one party’s caucus.
Republicans will make their selection for president in in-person caucuses across the state, and the outcome will be known immediately.
Democrats will hold caucuses on the same day, but they will not select their presidential candidate; instead, they will focus on choosing delegates for their county’s conventions.
Iowa Democrats will choose the president through an absentee ballot, and we won’t know the outcome of that vote until March.
But the primaries are not the last word
One might assume that once primaries and caucuses are held, the person with the most votes automatically becomes their party’s nominee.
But that’s not how it works.
Because it’s not the number of votes in primaries and caucuses that determines who becomes a presidential candidate, it’s the number of delegates they have, The US government explains.
Presidential candidates are chosen by delegates at their party’s national conventions – major political events that take place later in the year.
Oh, and what are delegates, you ask?
These are real people elected to represent their state or community at their party’s national convention.
So what are primaries and caucuses for, you may ask?
The results of the primary and caucus determine how delegates are distributed.
But it’s not simple, because each state and party has different rules for how they award these delegates.
Some states win, some allocate them proportionally and still others use more complicated formulas.
The Iowa Republican Party, for example, gets 40 delegates.
And while we can have a pretty good idea of who the Democratic or Republican nominee will be long before each state has held its primaries, party conventions are where delegate votes are cast, thus officially confirming the candidates Republicans and Democrats.
Who is running for president?
It would be a two-person race between the current president – Mr Biden – and the former president – Mr Biden. Trump.
But it’s not set in stone.
There are six people vying to be the Republican nominee:
- Ron DeSantis
- Nikki Haley
- Asa Hutchinson
- Vivek Ramaswamy
- Donald Trump
- Ryan Binkley
And three people vying to be the Democratic nominee:
- Joe Biden
- Marianne Williamson
- Dean Phillips
There are also a few other people from outside these parties who say they are running for the position, including independents Robert F Kennedy Jnr, Jill Stein and Cornel West.
But again, it’s really about Republicans and Democrats.
The fight between the Democratic candidates is less interesting because, as a sitting president, Mr. Biden appears likely to secure his party’s nomination.
That’s why the focus is really on the Republicans.
Mr. Trump has been president before and enjoys a fairly vibrant support base.
On the other hand, he faces 91 counts in four indictmentsand not all Republicans support it.
There is therefore a great interest in knowing who will end up on the Republican list next November.
What are the other dates to watch out for?
March 5: On this day, 15 states are holding their primaries at the same time, which is a lot. Known as “Super Tuesday,” it’s a big deal because the results tend to influence primaries in subsequent months.
July 15 to 18: The Republican National Convention
August 19 to 22: The Democratic National Convention
November 5: Presidential election
