Here’s everything you need to know about America’s months-long election procedures. The detailed information mentioned below was collected from the website of the US Government and the US Embassy and Consulate.
First, a quick recap:
One year before the US elections: Candidates from the two main political parties – the Democrats and the Republicans – are beginning their election campaigns. This part of the campaign includes building their team and leading rallies to seek support and raise money for their campaigns.
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At the start of the campaigns: Democratic and Republican candidates participate in televised debates. During the debates, each candidate answers tough questions about their policies. They also have the opportunity to defend their positions on issues and policies against other candidates.
The electoral process begins: Here are the steps the United States takes to elect its president every four years:
![US Elections Explained in a Chart US Elections Explained in a Chart](https://www.livemint.com/lm-img/img/2024/01/16/original/2_1705421236620.jpg)
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Step 1: Primaries and caucuses
The major voting events – Primaries and Caucuses – help select the delegates who will represent the people in upcoming conventions. These are simply two ways people help states and political parties choose presidential candidates.
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Caucus: It is a stage in which party members select the best candidate through a series of discussions and votes. This is a meeting of local members of a political party to select delegates to the party’s national convention. A caucus is said to replace primary elections. A delegate is defined as a person authorized to represent others as an elected representative at a conference of a political party.
Primary: In this, party members vote for the best candidate who will represent them in the general elections. Most states hold primaries six to nine months before a presidential election. Primary voters choose their preferred candidate anonymously by voting by secret ballot.
The focus remains on results from Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. The results in these regions generally determine who the final presidential candidate for each party will be.
Step 2: National Congresses
To become a presidential candidate, a candidate must win a majority of delegates. Each party then holds a national convention to select a final presidential candidate.
At this point, delegates selected in primaries and caucuses “to represent the people” will “support” their favored candidates. Simply put, state delegates go to the national convention to vote to confirm their choice of candidates. The final presidential candidate of each party will be officially announced at the end of the conventions.
If no candidate receives a majority of a party’s delegates in primaries and caucuses, convention delegates choose the candidate. This happens in additional voting rounds.
It is at the convention that the presidential candidate chooses a “running mate” – a candidate for vice president. Presidential candidates campaign across the country to gain support from the general public.
Stage 3: Presidential general elections
In general elections, residents of every U.S. state vote for a president and vice president. The names of the candidates will be included on the general election ballot.
Notably, candidates from minor political parties and independent candidates may not have a national convention. But they can be placed on the ballot state by state if they meet the eligibility requirements.
Elections take place on the first Tuesday in November.
But the process doesn’t end there….
When people vote, they are actually voting for a group of people called electors. Each candidate for president in your state has their own group of voters (called a slate). When you vote for a presidential candidate, you are actually voting for your candidate’s preferred voters.
Step 4: Electoral College
In the United States, the president and vice president are not directly elected by citizens. Instead, they are chosen by “electors” through a process called the Electoral College.
The Electoral College is a process in which the electors or representatives of each state vote and determine who will be president. Each state is assigned a number of electors based approximately on the size of its population.
There are a total of 538 electors selected according to each state’s policy. Each state gets a certain number of electors based on its representation in Congress. Each voter casts one vote after the general election, and the candidate who gets more than half (270) wins.
This is why the general elections in November make it impossible to know who will really win. And that’s why sometimes a candidate wins the presidency (electoral votes) but not the popular vote (voted by the people in the general election).
Watch this video for more clarity
How does the Electoral College process work?
Usually, the candidate who gets the most votes in a state gets all of their electoral votes. “If they win the state with 1 percent, they win 100 percent of the electoral votes,” VOX the media explains. This is why the number of voters in each state plays an important role.
1. After you vote for president, your vote is counted statewide. In 48 states and Washington, D.C., the winner gets all the electoral votes for that state. Maine and Nebraska assign their voters according to a proportional system.
2. A candidate needs the votes of at least 270 voters – or more than half of all voters – to win the presidential election.
3. In most cases, the predicted winner is announced on election night in November, after you vote. But the real Electoral College vote takes place in mid-December, when electors meet in their states.
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Candidates focus their energy on swing stats, which can vote one way or the other. Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Arizona are the key states in the US elections. Euronews said. Winning in these states is essential to securing the magic number of 270 electoral votes.
The final state: The newly elected president and vice president will take office in January.
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Published: January 17, 2024, 06:10 IST