USA presidential election

#politics #usa

Quotation

Power of India's prime minister + president = Power of USA's president

Basics

The presidential election happens every four years.
If a president dies, the vice president will be the president for the entire 4-year term. There will be no re-election before the completion of 4 years.
If the VP also dies, there is a line of accession of 15 people.
A person can become president two times.

The USA has a federation govt. More laws and powers are there in the states than at the center.
Each state has its flag, constitution, and citizenship.

Primaries and Caucuses are elected.
These people give their votes at the presidential nomination convention.
Elections happen the next day, the first Monday of November in the election year.
- In this way, the election day is a Tuesday between 2 and 8 November.
- 2024-11-05 will be the election day this year.

Legislature
This is called Congress. It has two houses.
1. House of Representatives (HoR) (kind of Loksabha)
  - Term: 2 years
  - Members: 435
  - Seats per state: according to population
2. Senate (kind of Rajyasabha)
  - Term: 6 years
    - Every two years, 1/3rd of the total members, i.e., 33, retire.
  - Members: 100
  - Seats per state: 2
Executive
1. President
  - Every four years, an election
2. Vice President (VP)
  - Every four years, an election
~~Judiciary~~ -> Selection, No election

Legislature
- Nebraska has one house. Otherwise, the rest all have two houses.
Executive
1. Governor like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bobby Jindal.
  - Most U.S. states have governors serving four-year terms, except New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors serve two-year terms.
2. Lieutenant Governor -> 5 states do not have LG
~~Judiciary~~ -> Selection, No election

Number of members of a state in the Electoral College (EC) = Number of members in the House of Representatives + Number of members in Senate, which is two.
Example:
- California = 53 + 2 = 55
- Texas = 36 + 2 = 38
The minimum votes of a state is three, like Alaska.
Total members in EC is 538 = 435 + 100 + 3
- The last three are the votes of Washington, DC.
Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December, i.e., 13 to 19 Dec, elected EC members gathered in their respective state capitals and provided votes for the president and VP.
Faithless EC members are also there, but there is no such punishment.

Illogical concept.
Suppose five options exist: A, B, C, D, and E. Option B got 51% votes, and Option C got 48%. As B got more than 50% votes, all the EC members will be from B's party.
- Therefore, a state will represent only one presidential candidate in the EC.
The Winner-Takes-All system in the U.S. has significant implications for electoral representation and democracy, favoring larger political parties and often resulting in the underrepresentation of minority groups and smaller political parties. Its contrast with proportional representation systems highlights ongoing debates about the most equitable and democratic election method.

On 6th January 2025/2029/2033, the newly elected senate and HoR members will start counting.
A minimum of 270 votes is needed for a president to win. (435 + 100 + 3)/2 = 269 + 1 = 270
If none of the candidates get this number, Congress conducts a Contingent election.

This entire process happens on 6th January.

For the president, HoR members vote.
The top 3 candidates are voted.
Here, the equation changes to 1 state = 1 vote.
Total 50 votes, and whoever gets 26 will become the USA president.
If the HoR abstains from voting or no one gets a majority, then on 4th March, the VP becomes president.
The new president nominates a person for VP.