Presidential elections in the United States are held every four years and the result is expected not only in the United States but also around the world.
Here’s a beginner’s guide to the 2020 U.S. elections:
When are the elections?
The election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
Is the election limited to electing the president?
No. While the entire focus of the election is who will be the next president of the United States of America, voters will also elect new members of Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the House of Representatives, members serve two-year terms, after which elections must be held. In the Senate, senators serve six-year terms that are divided into three parts, and therefore one-third of senators stand for election every two years.
How do the elections work?
To become president, candidates compete to win electoral college votes. Each state gets its electoral college votes based on its population. Voters decide who will go to the Electoral College and, except for two states, all the others have a “winner takes all” rule, which means that whoever wins the highest number of votes in the state gets all Electoral College votes. . Out of a total of 538 electoral college votes, the winner must obtain 270 or more votes to become president. This also means that it is not necessary to win the popular vote to become president, since the United States has an indirect election system.
Elections will be held for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, there are 33 seats up for grabs.
Who can vote and how?
A US citizen who is 18 years of age or older is eligible to vote in elections. Voting can be done in person on Election Day, in person but before Election Day, by mail ballot or postal ballots and absentee ballots.
Who are the presidential candidates?
Republican Party: current President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence
Democratic Party: Former Vice President Joe Biden for President with his running mate Kamala Harris for Vice President
What are the central themes of the elections?
The elections will be a referendum on the Trump presidency. Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, protests in reaction to the assassination of George Floyd, the situation of the economy under Trump, the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court have been the main topics discussed during the electoral cycle.
How is this choice different from the previous ones?
This election will be very different from the previous elections due to Covid-19. Although President Trump’s campaign has many more public appearances, Joe Biden’s campaign has been largely low-key. President Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis also changed the scene. Except for the first debate between the presidential candidates and a debate between the vice-presidential candidates, there have been no debates as the Trump campaign disagreed with the idea of virtual debates.
Voting has also been affected and there has also been an increase in postal ballots.
When will the results be published?
It may take several days for all the votes to be counted, but the winner is usually clear on the morning of November 4. This time due to the increase in the number of postal ballots, the counting process could be long.
When will the new president take office?
The new president will take office on January 20, 2021, in a ceremony called Inauguration Day.
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