Today, America’s Powerful Electors – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries Meet

You may have thought that the US presidential election was finally over. And it is true that Joe Biden won the presidential election on November 3, with more than 80 million votes.

But there is a big step left before Biden can become president.

Today the so-called voters meet, who will formally decide who will be the next president of the United States. Usually this is just a formality. But this year, due to President Donald Trump’s many accusations against the election result and the vote count, everyone will be closely following him.

American voters, technically speaking, did not vote for Joe Biden or Donald Trump. They voted for members of the call Electoral College, (electoral college in English), composed of voters.

Your role is to elect the President of the United States. They do it today, December 14.

If everyone votes as they should, Joe Biden will get 306 votes. Trump gets 232.

Therefore, Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 20210.

Election officers are appointed by the parties in the state and are often party foxes or have been noted for their long and faithful service. In New York, both former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are Democratic voters this year and will therefore vote for Joe Biden.

• Can they vote for whoever they want?

There is nothing in the United States Constitution that says voters must respect the outcome. The various Länder or parties appointing the voters, on the other hand, can demand promises of this. 33 states have rules that require them to vote for the candidate who has won the state. In theory, others can do whatever they want.

That is why all eyes are on the voters this year. Trump and his supporters have highlighted this as a possible way to win the election – to get Republican voters to vote for Trump, even if their state voted democratically.

In the history of the United States, 99 percent of voters have voted on the result, according to US authorities.

In 2016, seven voters on both sides chose to follow their conscience or their own wishes rather than the democratic system. These were replaced and several were fined. Donald Trump still got enough electoral votes to become president.

There are six states in particular that one should follow and see if the voters vote according to the official election result: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Donald Trump has denied the result in several of these states.

Voters in Nevada meet first, at 6:30 PM Norwegian time. Michigan meets at 8 pm Norwegian time.

Many of the states broadcast the vote.

The votes will be sent to Washington DC, where Vice President Mike Pence will count the votes before Congress on January 6.

• Will Trump respect this result?

President Trump, who still refuses to accept the official election result, has said he will resign if he does not win a majority of voters.

Trump is known to be unpredictable, so there is great tension associated with Trump’s reaction when the vote ends.

Joe Biden will speak on Tuesday night Norwegian time.

• How are voters distributed?

Each state has a number of voters based on the state’s population, in addition to the two state senators. California has the most with 55 voters. Several small states have only three.

Today there are a total of 538 voters: to win, a candidate must obtain 270 of their votes.

In most states, a candidate gets all the voters, if he wins the majority of the votes. For example, a candidate who wins California with 51 percent of the vote gets all 55 voters in the state. That is why it is possible to win the presidential election without obtaining a majority of the vote, as did Donald Trump in 2016 and George W. Bush in 2000.

• How does this affect the electoral campaign?

This means that candidates do their best to win over the unsafe states, the so-called tip states. States that vote Republicans year after year, like Tennessee or Montana, can’t count on getting much attention. In 2020, for example, 96 percent of all election campaign meetings were held in 12 auspicious states. 33 states were never visited by any of the candidates, according to the BBC.

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• Why such a complicated system?

It is an old system: more than 200 years. America’s first politicians, The founding fathers, would establish a secure democratic system. But they feared that voters, if they could elect a president directly, would elect inappropriate presidents. The Electoral College was meant to be a kind of quality control. It has been called a quick engagement, but it has stood the test of time.

The English translation is not entirely up to date. Both NRK and Aftenposten have argued whether we should not use another word. In four years, voters can be translated into election delegate, delegate, elector, or something else entirely. Entry is gratefully accepted!