The United States will hold a presidential election on November 5. A close race is unfolding between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. The world’s eyes will be on the election in the country’s most powerful country. The U.S. presidential election process is considered one of the most complex in the world. Primaries, caucuses, Electoral College, and swing states are very popular terms in politics here. After all, how does America choose its president? It’s important to understand this.
The United States holds an election every four years in November. Contenders from the country’s main political parties, the Republican and Democratic parties, nominated themselves for the election. Make your own claims. This means that in order to stand in the election, a contender within the party must also win a candidacy. To this end, political parties organize state primaries and preselections. Elections begin with primaries and caucuses, organized in each state. Through these, candidates are formally selected by political parties. The process usually begins in January of an election year.
What is the difference between a primary and a caucus?
In the U.S. presidential election, only two major parties, the Republican and the Democratic parties, dominate. But dozens of presidential candidates from the same party are competing. After one of these contenders is selected, he will be officially fielded by the party. To this end, primaries and caucuses are organized in nearly every state across the country.
Primary elections are direct elections in which registered voters of the party vote for their preferred candidate. Unlike caucuses, primaries are held at the polls. Voters usually vote for the candidate of their choice by secret ballot.
There are generally two types of primaries: closed primaries, in which only registered voters of the party participate, and open primaries, in which membership of any political party is not required.
Meanwhile, a caucus is a local meeting that can be held in any public place, including schools, town halls. At this meeting, registered party members gather to elect presidential candidates. Would-be candidates for both parties participate in primaries and caucuses in every state. Whoever wins the primaries and caucuses becomes the official candidate of both parties.
After states win primaries and caucuses, they gain the support of a certain number of delegates. In this process, which lasts several months, candidates who win the support of a fixed number of their party’s delegates are nominated. This meant he became the party’s official candidate.
What happens at the National Convention?
Each political party has its own national convention. This usually involves formally confirming a candidate who has won enough delegates. The organization held a national convention to announce the news. At this convention, the list of presidential and vice-presidential candidates decided by the party was announced.
What is the Electoral College?
This is the most complex phase of the U.S. presidential election. The Electoral College is actually the body that elects the president. To understand it in simple terms, in a presidential election, the public votes for the members of the Electoral College, whose job is to elect the president and vice president of the country. Electors to elect the president will cast their votes on the Tuesday of the first week of November. After being elected, these electors gather in their respective states in December to vote for the president.
How did the president decide?
The election of the President of the United States is an indirect process in which citizens of all states vote for certain members of the Electoral College. These members are called electors. These electors then cast their votes directly, called electoral votes. Their votes go to the President and Vice President of the United States. The candidates who receive the majority of the electoral votes are elected President and Vice President.
You know, in an election with a total of 538 seats, the candidate who wins 270 or more seats is the winner, but he does not necessarily become the president. It is possible for a candidate to win the most votes nationwide but still not win the Electoral College. Such a case came to light in 2016, when Hillary Clinton failed to win the Electoral College.
When does the president take the oath?
In the United States, the winner is announced on election night. The president was formally sworn in during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in January.
