Context:
The US Presidential Election kicked off on November 5, featuring a highly anticipated contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. With the outcome heavily reliant on the Electoral College, the focus is on seven key “swing states” where the race is especially close. This tight competition across these pivotal states renders the final result of the election uncertain, capturing nationwide and global attention.
Relevance:
GS II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
U.S. Presidential Election Process
- The U.S. presidential election occurs every four years, determining the leadership for the President and Vice President of the United States.
- The election utilizes an indirect voting system where citizens vote for electors in the Electoral College, who in turn, elect the President and Vice President.
Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates
- Citizenship: Candidates must be natural-born citizens of the United States.
- Age Requirement: Candidates must be at least 35 years old.
- Residency: Candidates must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.
Primary Elections and Caucuses
- Primaries and caucuses are held in each state to help political parties choose their presidential nominees.
- These events occur from early in the election year through the summer.
- Party members vote for their preferred presidential candidates, and delegates are chosen based on these preferences to represent the party at national conventions.
National Conventions
- After the primaries and caucuses, each party hosts a national convention where delegates formally nominate their presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
- Following the nominations, the candidates accept their party’s nomination and begin their general election campaigns.
The General Election
- The general election takes place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
- Voters in each state select electors who will represent their preferences in the Electoral College.
Electoral College Voting and Inauguration
- Electoral Vote: In December, the chosen electors meet in their state capitals to cast their ballots for President and Vice President.
- Congressional Count: These votes are tallied by Congress in early January, and the President-elect is officially announced.
- Inauguration Day: The President-elect is inaugurated on January 20, commencing their term in office.
Election mechanics
- Americans do not directly vote for their President. Instead, they vote to determine the composition of the Electoral College, which elects the President.
- There are 538 electors in the Electoral College, and 270 is the majority mark. Each state is allocated a specific number of electors, which is somewhat based on population.
- A vote cast in favour of a certain candidate is, in effect, meant to elect the candidate’s slate of electors in a state, who are chosen by the parties prior to the election.
- To win the presidency, a candidate needs to cobble together victories in enough states to reach the 270 mark in the Electoral College.
- Most states (with the exception of Maine and Nebraska) have a winner-takes-all system, which means whoever wins the popular mandate in the state secures its entire allocation in the Electoral College.
- This makes the result in most states — which are either firmly Democratic or Republican — a foregone conclusion before the first ballot is cast. It also means that certain states where the race is particularly close have outsize importance in the election.
Role of Swing Sta
- “Some states are known as ‘swing states’ or ‘battleground states’ for historically close races. This year, they are ‘must win’ for either Democratic or Republican candidates.”
- These states play a pivotal role, as the winner-takes-all system makes their outcome critical to securing the required 270 electoral votes.
- Swing states in this election year
- Currently, seven swing states in this US presidential election are Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada.
- This cluster has a total of 93 Electoral College votes and thus plays a huge role in targeting both campaigns by Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s campaigns.
-Source: Indian Express
