ASV on Tuesday, November 3, the regular presidential elections are held, in which the current head of state Donalds Tramps will seek to secure himself for another four years in an influential position, while his Joe Biden – will try to get the keys to the White House back in the pockets of the Democratic Party. Let’s look at five important facts to consider when following the presidential election.
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1. Higher voters do not guarantee victory
Four years ago, nearly three million more people voted for Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton than for Republican Donald Trump. As you know, however, the Republican became president.
This situation is possible because the winner of the US presidential election is not determined by the one with the largest number of voters, but by the number of votes obtained in the electoral college, the institution that formally elects the president. It has a total of 538 representatives – each state has its own set of representatives. California has the largest number of votes in the electoral college – 55. The West Bank is followed by Texas (38), Florida and New York have 29 votes, while Ilonoja and Pennsylvania have 20. In order to become president, you need to get at least 270 votes in the electoral college.
The central role of the electoral college in determining the winner of an election means that the result is usually decided in the so-called “purple states” – Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, North Carolina – there is an equal chance for both the Democrat and the Republican to win “red states” are those with more support for Republicans, while “blue states” are those with more support for Democrats). Four years ago, Trump won in key states. Polls show that this year Trump is close to or even slightly ahead of Biden in some of these states, but lags behind Michigan and Wisconsin.
It is believed that this year’s election results could be most affected by the results in Florida and Pennsylvania.
2. The election results may not be available immediately
The scenario is quite real that on election night (early Wednesday morning in Latvian time) we will not know who won the presidential election. Due to the pandemic, more people are voting by post this year than ever before, and counting postal ballots takes longer than ballot papers handed over at polling stations. Because each state has its own rules for counting votes, some states will report results sooner than others.
These different rules can also give a misleading impression when the initial results are published. For example, in some states, the results may later turn in the Democrats’ favor, as the newsletters sent by post are later added, which were usually handed over directly by the Democrats until these elections. On the other hand, in the states where the votes sent by post are counted first, the result may turn over to the Republicans over time, as the votes sent on election day are counted later, the portal “FiveThirtyEight” notes.
Results from Florida and Wisconsin should be available in a timely manner from the “purple states” above, but results from Pennsylvania and Michigan may be expected in the longer term.
3. Voters are worried about a pandemic
A poll conducted by the prestigious Gallup company, which was conducted between September 30 and October 15, revealed that according to voters, the biggest problem in the country is the new coronavirus pandemic – this opinion was expressed by 30% of respondents. The second biggest problem is the weak functioning of the government – 23%. Racism was mentioned as the most important problem in this survey by 10%, while issues related to the economy were mentioned by 9% of respondents.
Trump has been criticized for his management of the Covid-19 crisis, with the United States now ranked first in terms of both sickness and deaths. The negative statistics of the pandemic, as well as the reaction of the presidential administration to the challenges posed by the pandemic, may become one of the main reasons why Trump has not stayed in the White House for more than four years.
4. Americans will not only choose the president
In parallel with the presidential election, Americans will also vote for members of Congress. The fight will take place for 35 of the 100 chairs (each state has two senators) in the upper house of Congress, or Senate. Of these 35 seats in the Senate, 23 have so far been for Republicans. Currently, the Republican Party has a majority of 53 to 47 in the Senate.
There will also be a fight for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives or House of Representatives. At present, the majority in the House of Representatives are Democrats.
The party division in Congress is important because it can affect how effectively the president can act in the implementation of various policies and other decisions. If both the president and the majority in both chambers of Congress represent the same party, it is theoretically easier than if one or even both chambers of Congress are controlled by an opposition party.
5. A US voter is voting for the all-time senior candidate this year
This is the third time that political veteran Joe Biden has run for president. He ran for the first time in 1988 and the second time in 2008. Both of these attempts were quite unsuccessful. The White House is no stranger to Biden – in 2008 he became Barack Obama’s vice president.
If Biden were to win, he would become the oldest man to become President of the United States – he would be 78 years old on the day of his inauguration. Interestingly, four years ago, Tramps, who was 70 at the time, won this “title”. Accordingly, in the event of re-election, Trump would retain the status of senior president, currently 74 years old.
Biden’s age among political observers has led to the assumption that if a Democrat wins the presidency, he is likely to spend only one term, as he would be 82 years old at the end. In politics, four years is a long period of time and the decision on how many years he wants to spend in the White House is likely to be hasty.
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