The US presidential election is going to be held in a few days. There is no doubt that the United States is one of the world's superpowers. America is still the world's number one superpower in economic statistics. In the post-World War II world, with the exception of the Cold War, the United States has been the sole leader in the world. I have no hesitation in saying that the fate of the whole world is involved with the fate of America. That is why the heat of the US presidential election is not limited to the United States but has spread to other parts of the world. Our country also has a little bit of that heat. Who will be the next president of America? Hillary or Trump? This question is now on everyone's lips. In such a tense situation, today's report is therefore arranged around the US presidential election.
Qualifications required to be a voter and to run for president
America is the second largest democracy in the world after India. The US presidential election is held once every four years. The term of the president is also four years. Election day is scheduled for the next Monday after the first Monday in November. That is why the election day has not changed a bit for ages. Elections were held during the tenure of the previous president. There is no caretaker government or interim government. If you want to run for the presidency of the United States, you must be a citizen of the United States by birth and have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. The minimum age to run for president is 35. John F. Kennedy is the youngest president in American history. He was elected president at the age of 43.
In addition, no one can be elected president more than twice. That means neither Obama, George W. Bush nor Bill Clinton are eligible to run in the election. The law was originally designed to pay tribute to George Washington, the American architect and first president. He did not run for president for the third time in a row after being elected president twice in a row.
Any U.S. citizen over the age of 18 can vote. No general holiday is declared on polling day. So the citizens have to come out with their own time and vote. However, the negative aspects of this system have been seen in the recent interim elections. The turnout in this 2014 election was only 34.4%.
The way the president was elected
The US President is not elected by direct vote of the citizens. Rather, the US presidential election system is indirect. First the people elect the electoral college or constituency by vote. One thing to note here is that the names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates are written on the ballot paper. And according to the rules of each state, the name of the constituency may or may not be mentioned. People voting for a particular presidential candidate means nominating his or her party's constituency. The constituency then elects the people's preferred presidential candidate by ballot. However, according to federal law, the electorate is not obliged to vote for the candidate of the people's choice. In other words, even if the electorate wants, they can go outside the party and vote for the candidate of the opposition party. However, in 24 out of 50 states, this type of "treason" is considered a crime. And in the present age, it is not common for a selector to vote for someone other than his own party candidate. Therefore, it can be said that the people who will vote for the constituencies of the presidential candidate will get all the electoral votes in that state.
For example, in this election, the majority of people in the state of Texas voted for Hillary Clinton. The number of electoral votes allocated for Texas is 36. This means that the electorate voted for Hillary, and Hillary will receive all of those 36 electoral votes in Texas alone if no one in the electorate betrays her. Another thing to note here is that a candidate from any one state will either get all the electoral votes or will not get any electoral votes at all. That is why there have been several instances in the history of the United States where people have lost due to low turnout. The last such incident took place in the 2000 elections. George W. Bush of the service did not get the majority vote but got 281 electoral votes. His rival, Al Gore, on the other hand, won the most popular votes but lost the election by a landslide. He received 26 electoral votes. However, not only do the winning candidates in the states of Nebraska and Maine receive all the electoral votes alone, but they are also divided between the winner of the popular vote and the winning candidate in the congressional district. Not going into more detail to avoid complications.
The number of electoral votes allocated in each state is equal to the number of people's representatives and senators in that state. The total number of electoral votes in the United States is 536, of which California alone has the highest number of 55. And to be elected president, a candidate must get at least 270 electoral votes. It would not be wrong to call the US presidential election not a single election but a combination of separate elections in 50 states and one district (Colombia). Because the president is finally elected by the votes of the electorate elected from each state. Although the electorate was elected in the first week of November, they came to the capitals of their respective states to vote for the president in the second week of December.
Why is the selection process so complicated?
After reading this complicated process of the US presidential election, a question naturally comes to mind that if the electorate has its hands and feet tied to the people's support, then what is the benefit of holding an indirect election with the wrong constituencies? It is better to elect a president by direct popular vote.
The answer to this question is hidden in the US Constitution. We must not forget that at the time of the founding of the United States in 1817, it was not a single country, but a coalition of many independent states. So we still see how different and diverse the laws of each state in America are. However, at the time of the founding of the United States, small states like New Jersey did not want to go for direct democracy for fear of the absolute domination of populous states like Virginia or New York in the presidential election. Therefore, the incarnation of this electoral college system is to reflect the views of all the states, big and small, in the national elections. In addition, the people of the United States chose indirect democracy over direct democracy, fearing that direct voting by the common people could lead to chaos and the establishment of a dominance of numbers over standards. Although many times in the past there have been calls for the repeal of this system and there has been a lot of controversy in the courts, this rule made by the former men has survived in the United States.
Who is Hillary or Trump going to get the majority electoral vote? We will have to wait a few more days to get the answer to this question. Only then will it be known who will be the next resident of the White House. But whether Trump or Hillary is president, the world will expect the newly elected US president to bring peace doves. And it is not conflict but peace that is established in this war-torn country.