BELIEVE it or not, the United States’ presidential elections may be one of the most important elections in the world. It affects global economic, political and social actions.
At 3 a.m. on Sunday, I decided to check Twitter if there were new fusses about the polls.
“Joe Biden wins US Elections.” And I fell asleep.
I’m a little bit attentive with this election. I didn’t have a personal favorite but I am interested to know how their system works. It sounds enigmatic and puzzling.
Did you ever wonder how their leaders are being elected, especially their presidents?
According to popular belief, Americans vote for their president. However, it is the contrary. When they go to the polls, they just vote for electors.
These electors then go on to choose between presidential candidates. The electors typically vote for the candidates of their party. Thus, the names of the presidential candidates usually appear on the ballots rather than those of the individual electors.
There are 538 electors who meet in their respective states and vote for president and vice president. The identities of the electors are mostly unknown to the voters. They comprise the Electoral College.
Basically, each state has as many electors as it has members in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. The former depends on the population of the state. The latter is equivalent to two in every state, regardless of its size. Each state gets at least three electors, and the remaining are in proportion to the population of the state.
For example, California has 55 electors. It has 53 congressmen and two senators. Thus, it gets 55 electoral votes.
Considering the preceding paragraphs, it is possible that the candidate who is the most popular candidate among voters will fail to win enough states to gain majority electoral votes.
The president-elect is the candidate who has at least 270 Electoral College votes.
The 2020 presidential election was the most momentous in US elections history. This was the time their country, or even the world, needs its people on Election Day as it had never needed them before. An ordinary vote can result in astonishing change.
And, indeed, the Biden-Harris tandem has risen and off to the White House./PN
