On November 5, the vote will be held to elect the new president of the United States. The race is between Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party and Donald Trump of the Republican Party. Of course, voting will take place on November 5, but it may take several days for the results to be announced. The new president will be sworn in in January 2025. In such a situation, it becomes necessary to understand the most complex electoral process in the world.
The United States presidential election process, held every four years on the first Tuesday in November, rings in at the beginning of the election year. The process begins with primaries and caucus meetings and culminates with the swearing-in of the president.
Only two parties dominate US elections!
Contenders from the country’s two major parties, Republican and Democrat, nominate themselves for the United States presidential election. Submit your own claim. This means that, to participate in the elections, contenders within the party also have to win the candidacy. To do this, the parties organize primaries and state caucuses. Elections begin with primaries and caucuses, which are organized in all states. Through these, candidates are officially selected by the parties. This process usually begins in January of the election year.
What is the difference between primaries and caucuses?
In the United States presidential elections, only two main parties dominate, the Republicans and the Democrats. But dozens of candidates from the same party are running for president. One of these contenders is selected and officially presented by the party. To this end, primary meetings and caucuses are organized in almost every state in the country.
Direct elections are held for primaries, in which the party’s registered voters vote for their preferred candidate. Unlike the caucus, primaries are held at polling stations. Electors generally 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, while the other is open primary in which it is not necessary to be a member of any party.
At the same time, the caucus is a kind of local meeting that is organized in any public place, including a school or a town hall. At this meeting, the registered members of the party meet and elect the presidential candidate. People who want to become candidates for both parties participate in primaries and caucuses in every state. Whoever wins the primary and caucus elections becomes the formal candidate of both parties.
After winning primaries and caucuses in every state, they gain the support of a certain number of delegates. The candidate who obtains the set number of delegates from his party in his favor in this process that lasts months, obtains the nomination. That means he becomes the party’s formal candidate.
What is the National Convention?
Each party has its own national convention. This usually involves officially confirming to the candidate that they have won enough delegates. A National Convention is organized to announce it. At this convention, the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates decided by the party are announced.
What is the electoral college?
This is the most complex phase of the US presidential elections. The Electoral College is actually the body that elects the President. Understand it in simple language like this that in presidential elections, the general public votes for the people who make up the Electoral College and their job is to elect the President and Vice President of the country. Voting takes place on Tuesday of the first week of November for the electors who elect the President. After being elected, these electors gather at a location in their respective states in the month of December and vote for the election of the President.
How does 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 direct votes which are called electoral votes. Your votes are for the President and Vice President of America. The candidates who obtain the majority of electoral votes are elected to the positions of President and Vice President.
Understand, the winner of the elections with a total of 538 seats is the candidate who obtains 270 or more seats, but it is not necessary for him to become President. It is possible for a candidate to get the most votes nationally but still not win the Electoral College. Such a case came to light in 2016, when Hillary Clinton failed to win the Electoral College.
Can the results take several days to arrive?
Voting for the US presidential election will take place on November 5. Vote counting will begin the same day, but final results may take several days to arrive. American voters will not know the final results until either Kamala Harris or Trump achieve significant victories in most states, especially swing states. If there is no significant margin of victory, the recount can take days or even weeks to resolve the results.
When does the President take the oath?
The president is officially sworn in at a ceremony in Washington DC in January. The swearing-in ceremony of the president and vice president will take place on January 20, 2025.
