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US electoral system: why Trump became US president without a majority

The US electoral system calls for the election of the president in the 2020 presidential election by voting by the Electoral College electors.

  • On November 3rd, the citizens of the USA will vote for the 59th time Presidents of the country.
  • The choice of Presidents takes place indirectly through 538 electorates of the Electoral College.
  • News about the US election 2020: All the news and background information on the US presidential election

Washington – The 2020 US elections will take place on November 3, 2020. With the help of a complicated electoral system, US citizens elect their president for the next 4 years. For the presidential election, Electoral College electors are sent from the US states and the District of Columbia.

Trump versus Biden: Electoral College voters will be sent to the 2020 US election

The Electoral College is a formal body of the US Electoral system and can analogously with Electoral College be translated into German. The committee consists of 538 electors who are elected every 4 years Presidents and elect the Vice President of the United States of America. Both US elections In 2016, the incumbent president Donald Trump (74s himself against his opponent Hillary Clinton (72) through. Both US elections 2020 defended the Republican in November Donald Trump his office against the democratic challenger Joe Biden (77).

The electors of the Electoral College are posted by the US states and the District of Columbia. The number of voters who have a state in Electoral College represented, depends roughly on its population. 48 US states as well as the federal district determine the electorate for the Electoral College by majority voting: only the candidate who received the most votes sends his electorate. Only in Maine and Nebraska the votes are divided according to proportional representation.

With votes from the Electoral College: US elections and federal elections are fundamentally different

Both US elections 2020 will be one for the following four years president elected. The underlying Electoral system however differs from the one used in Germany. All US states – with the exception of Maine and Nebraska – identify their electorate for that Electoral College using majority voting. Only the electorate of the candidate with the most votes will vote for the Electoral College named. Thus, with this indirect voting method, the votes for the losing candidates remain in the local election of the Presidents disregarded.

So it can be like the Presidential election 2016 happen with that Donald Trump the candidate for Presidents was elected, which overall received fewer votes than its opponent at the time Hillary Clinton. In Germany, on the other hand, elections such as the Bundestag election a system of proportional representation was used. The parliamentary seats are allocated according to the relative distribution of votes. In this way, all the votes cast flow into the election result and the will of the electorate is reflected as precisely as possible.

The election of the President and Vice-President by the Electoral College and the most important dates up to Inauguration Day

In November 2020 the time has come: then the US citizens will vote for theirs Presidents for the next four years. After this Donald Trump the 2016 presidential race against Hillary Clinton won, he now competes against the Democrat Joe Biden at. The electoral process follows a fixed sequence.

3. November 2020 Election day (first Tuesday between November 2nd and 8th)
December 14, 2020 Electoral College elects President and Vice-President
January 6, 2021 Counting of votes and announcement of results
January 20, 2021 Inauguration

On election day, US citizens use a relative majority vote to vote the 538 electoral men and women for the Electoral College. Only in Maine and Nebraska will be the electorate for that US elections 2020 with the Electoral system the order of precedence determined – in Maine since 1972, in Nebraska since 1996. 41 days after the election day, the electorate of the Electoral College finally the Presidents and the vicePresidents. After the votes have been counted, the final result will be announced on January 6th. Inauguration of the new Presidents always takes place on January 20th.

No Absolute Majority in 2020 US Elections: How the President is Determined in this Case

The American Electoral system sees the determination of the Presidents by voting of the electorate of the Electoral College before that with the exception of the electorate Maine and Nebraska were determined by majority voting. It should be noted that many state electors are not required to vote according to their constituency’s electoral preferences. You can also assign your vote to the other presidential candidate. In the 2016 presidential election refused two electors Donald Trump her voice, at Hillary Clinton Even eight electorates originally changed theirs Hillary Clinton intended electoral mandate.

Obtained after voting by the Electoral College None of the presidential candidates have an absolute majority, the House of Representatives must be one of the three candidates Presidents determine the dated Electoral College got the most votes. However, this has only happened twice in US history. If the House of Representatives does not reach an agreement either, the Vice President takes over the business until the lawful one president is certain.

Electoral College Electors: Their State Distribution for the 2020 US Election

After Election Day, all US states appoint their electoral electors to the Electoral College, to the Presidents to choose. The Electoral College consists of a total of 538 voters. The number of voters should depend on the population of the respective state. For the US elections 2020 The following distribution of the electorate applies:

  • Alabama (9)
  • Alaska (3)

  • Arizona (11)

  • Arkansas (6)

  • Colorado (9)

  • Connecticut (7)

  • Delaware (3)

  • Florida (29)

  • Georgia (16)

  • Hawaii (4)

  • Idaho (4)

  • Illinois (20)

  • Indiana (11)

  • Iowa (6)

  • California (55)

  • Kansas (6)

  • Kentucky (8)

  • Louisiana (8)

  • Maine (4)

  • Maryland (10)

  • Massachusetts (11)

  • Michigan (16)

  • Minnesota (10)

  • Mississippi (6)

  • Missouri (10)

  • Montana (3)

  • Nebraska (5)

  • Nevada (6)

  • New Hampshire (4)

  • New Jersey (14)

  • New Mexico (5)

  • New York (29)

  • North Carolina (15)

  • North Dakota (3)

  • Ohio (18)

  • Oklahoma (7)

  • Oregon (7)

  • Pennsylvania (20)

  • Rhode Island (4)

  • South Carolina (9)

  • South Dakota (3)

  • Tennessee (11)

  • Texas (38)

  • Utah (6)

  • Vermont (3)

  • Virginia (13)

  • Washington (12)

  • Washington, D. C. (3)

  • West Virginia (5)

  • Wisconsin (10)

  • Wyoming (3)

As in the example of the last one Presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton shown, guarantees the US Electoral system not that the candidate with the most votes from electors is necessarily the candidate for whom the majority of voters voted.

Indirect election through the Electoral College: Criticism of the US electoral system and alternative proposals

Donald Trump has been presidentalthough more voters for Hillary Clinton voted – 2016 as an omen for the US elections 2020?
In all likelihood, the US elections 2020 Another close head-to-head race. After this Donald Trump only just barely against each other four years ago Hillary Clinton was able to prevail, a few “swing states” could decide who for the next four years president the United States will be. The two-party political structure that has evolved over time is one reason for mostly very narrow election results.

The design of the Electoral system with relative majority voting and indirect choice about the Electoral College additionally supports a tight election result. The US states are already showing an alternative Maine and Nebraska. There, the electorate is determined by a right of precedence in order to be able to better reflect the will of the electorate in the selection of the electorate, which the citizens of the state in the electoral college Presidential election represented. (By Sebastian Reif)

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