Who is eligible to run for president?
The United States constitution allows any natural citizen, who is at least 35 years old and resides in the United States for at least 14 years, to run for president. This time, more than 1000 candidates, mostly obscure names, threw their hats into the ring, according to the Federal Elections Commission. But there will only be two names on the ballot: Trump and Biden.
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Primaries, caucus elect each party’s candidate
The two major parties elect their candidates through a nomination process, called primaries and assemblies, collectively called primaries, which narrow the field to one candidate for each party.
Primaries are indirect statewide elections in which candidates fight for delegates – individuals who represent their states at the party’s national convention, where the candidate is officially elected. The goal is to gather as many delegates as possible over the course of the primaries, which are designed to democratize the selection process for presidential candidates.
At the end of the primaries, delegates meet to elect their nominee at the party’s national convention event. By then, a clear nominee usually emerges resulting in a largely ceremonial national convention, where candidates with little support are expected to “hand over” their delegates to the leading candidate as a show of party unity.
Who can vote and how can they vote?
Any citizen (natural or not) over 18 years of age can vote. In most states, prisoners are not allowed to vote and residents of US territories, such as Puerto Rico, despite being citizens, cannot participate in presidential elections beyond the primaries.
Voters choose their preferred candidate on Election Day at a polling station or by voting early by mail or in person.
US law requires that Election Day always be the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, a date considered “more practical” in the 19th century.
However, American citizens do not vote directly for the president. Voters elect electors in the electoral College, who in turn elects the president. As a result, the winner of the popular vote cannot guarantee the presidency.
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How the electoral college system works
In the USA presidential election, the winner is decided indirectly by the electoral college. There are a total of 538 electoral votes or “electors”. This means that a candidate needs 270 votes to win the presidency.
Each state has as many voters as there are representatives and senators in Congress. There are two senators for each state, but the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives varies by population. Thus, California, the most populous state, has 55 voters, while Wyoming, the least populated, has only three electoral votes.
Distribution of electoral votes
But there is a disparity in the representation of electoral votes. This is because over the years, the population of the states has multiplied, but their total number of electoral votes has remained the same. So while an electoral vote in Wyoming, the least populous state, represents 193,000, a vote in Texas represents 763,000. If electoral votes were distributed evenly across the country, one vote would represent 610,000.
On Election Day, voters cast their ballots with the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, but they actually vote for electors. All but two states use a winner-take-all approach – that is, of the two candidates, the one who wins the most popular votes in a state also wins all of the state’s electoral college votes. Because of this, it is sometimes possible to win the electoral college but lose the national popular vote. In 2000, Republican George W. Bush won the presidency despite losing the popular vote. Similarly, in 2016, Trump beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote by the millions.
After the elections are over, voters meet in December to officially cast their votes. The candidate who obtains 270 electoral votes or more becomes president. But there could be a 269-269 tie. In that scenario, a newly elected House of Representatives would decide the fate of the presidency on January 6, with each state voting as a unit, as required by the 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Ethnic composition of eligible voters in the US
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