The 60th quadrennial presidential elections in the United States are set to be held on November 5, 2024. The president and the vice president are elected by voters for a term of four years. The current President of the US, Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, is running for a consecutive re-election while the Republican Party leader, Donald Trump, is running for a second non-consecutive re-election. If elected, Donald Trump would follow Grover Cleveland and become the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms as president. If both Biden and Trump receive nominations from their respective parties, then it would be the first rematch in the presidential history since 1956. The winner of the 60th presidential election is expected to be out on January 20, 2025. This would be the first presidential election in the US to take place after the 2020 US Census and the redistribution of votes in the US Electoral College.
Election Procedure in the US
The process to elect the president of the US generally comprises five steps:
1. Primaries and caucuses Primaries and caucuses (also called, party-level elections) are the processes available to the 50 American states, Washington DC and outlying territories for choosing the nominees for the US President. This contest is referred to as primary race. Primary elections are generally held between January and June, while the nominating conventions are held during the summer. Political parties follow an indirect election practice, which is not regulated by law. In the US, some states have primaries, some have caucuses, and a third group holds a hybrid of the two. Governments hold primaries while parties host private events known as caucuses. These elections are generally held on a Tuesday in February or March. This day is commonly called the Super Tuesday, as a significant number of US states hold their primary elections or caucuses on this day.
Voters check the box against the name of the candidate they support when they go to the polling stations during the primaries. Caucuses are longer procedures where participants gather in public places for discussing candidate choices and openly raise their hands for their choice. The caucus system is often criticised for being vulnerable to intimidation. It also favours candidates with strong, active bases over those with broader support. It is also inconvenient for such people as work in shifts, etc., as it is an in-person meeting which could be of unpredictable length.
After that, each political party may select a vice presidential candidate, who would be decided by a second round of voting or by selecting the nominee.
2. Nominating conventions After the completion of the primaries and caucuses, political parties begin the process of choosing their nominees at the nominating conventions (also called, National Conventions) before the general elections. Nominating convention is a political convention that is held every four years in the US by the political parties, planning to field their nominees for the US presidential elections. The official objective of a political convention is to choose the nominee for the presidential candidate to be elected by the people. The convention adopts a declaration of the party’s values and objectives, which is called the party platform. It also establishes guidelines for the party’s operations, including the presidential nomination process for the next election cycle.
3. Election campaigning The next phase is the campaigning for the general elections, where the nominated candidates travel throughout the country and try to win the support of public by explaining them their views and plans. In this phase, the candidates hold debates and organise rallies to advertise themselves to the potential voters.
4. General elections (popular vote) In the US presidential elections, popular vote refers to the total number of votes (or percentage of votes) that voters in all the 50 states and Washington D.C. vote for a certain candidate. The popular vote is declared to have been won by the candidate who gets the most votes throughout the country. It is, however, important to note that the winner of the popular vote may not succeed in the presidential election. The voters (general public) actually cast vote for the members of the Electoral College, who finally elect the president of the US. So, it is very much possible that the popular vote winner would not receive the necessary number of Electoral College votes to win the presidency.
5. Electoral College voting The Electoral College is the group of presidential electors who are appointed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president. Each state appoints electors as per the methods described by its legislature, equal in number to its congressional delegation (representatives and senators). After that, the members of the Electoral College cast direct votes, referred to as electoral votes, for the president and the vice president. The candidate elected to the office of the US President has to obtain an absolute majority of electoral votes, or at least 270 out of the 538 electoral votes. The President is chosen by the House of Representatives, if in case, no candidate gets an absolute majority of the votes. Similarly, the vice president is chosen by the Senate if no candidate gets an absolute majority of the votes for the vice president.
Since 1845, presidential elections take place every four years, on Election Day, which is the first Tuesday after November 1. On the first Monday following December 12, the electors of the Electoral College formally cast their votes in their state capital. The Congress then certifies the results in early January. The presidential term officially begins on the Inauguration Day, which has been set as January 20, since the passage of the Twentieth Amendment of the US Constitution.
© Spectrum Books Pvt. Ltd.
