D-day has arrived to decide between Harris and Trump. However, the way American presidential elections work is a far cry from ours.

Elections: The principle of primaries, the particularity of caucuses

In the United States, there are two main principles for elections, primaries and caucuses. You should know that this system of primaries is very important since it used to elect delegates who will go to their party convention. Moreover, in the United States there are two major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Primaries are the basic principle prevalent in most states where voting is done by secret ballot. But this principle differs depending on the State since some are followers of the caucus. In this case, the vote is done by show of hands in the form of a debate. Note that primaries always begin in January of the election year.

Did you know? In the United States there is a day called “Super Tuesday” when several states come together to elect delegates at the same time. Usually this highly anticipated day takes place on the second Tuesday in March.

Conventions for the nomination of candidates

Once the delegates are elected, they will participate in their party’s conventions. For elect at the end a candidate and a vice-candidate for the presidential election. Once the election of the two candidates of the main parties is completed, the electoral campaign can begin. In this case everything is good so that the candidate has the best advantage. Between ads, meetings and video clips, the candidates do not hesitate to attack each other to convince voters.

Americans and indirect voting

So as explained the vote is done by indirect universal suffrage, the Americans therefore do not vote directly for their future president but to elect the “electors”. Even if Americans vote indirectly, their choice remains crucial since the electors will vote in return for the candidate of the party to which they belong. In total there are 538. However, not all states have the same number of voters. They are proportional to the number of inhabitants of their state, for example in California there are 55 while the small state of Vernon only has 3.

Thus, the electors, forming the Electoral College of their State are responsible for electing the future president.

Did you know? During the election of the electors, the principle of “winner-take-all” is engaged. This principle dictates that the candidate who wins the majority of votes actually wins all the voters in that state. So if a major Republican voter wins the majority of votes, he will vote for the Republican candidate on behalf of his entire state. In other words “winner takes all”!

The conduct of the vote

Once the electors have been chosen, all that remains is to vote! In general, with the “Winer-take-all” principle, the elections are already decided, yet the suspense lies elsewhere. Indeed, the so-called “Swing States” concentrate all the attention to try to conquer them. Like Florida and Ohio, these states change parties as many times as they want, hence their name “swing states”. Their final choice will be eagerly awaited since they can swing the elections one way or the other. Conversely there are states like California and Texas which are very loyal to one party, the first is Democratic and the second is Republican.

Did you know? Elections always take place on the first Tuesday in November! This decision dates back a few years ago when, for reasons of travel, this date made it possible to leave on Monday to arrive at the polling place on Tuesday, without missing Sunday (day of non-working and prayers).

The winner: a question of majority

Once the votes are over, America knows the name of its new President. The one who wins the majority of the votes of the electors, i.e. more than 270 out of 538, becomes the new President. If the vote does not decide between the candidates, it is the House of Representatives which is responsible for deciding the subject, then the Senate will elect the vice-president. Note that the mandate of the elected president lasts four years knowing that he cannot serve more than two mandates.

After the appointment of the POTUS (President Of The United States), we mark a transition period to appoint his cabinet, prepare his government and the White House staff. Subsequently, the president officially takes office on “Inauguration Day” on January 20 by taking an oath before the Bible.

Did you know? The president is named in November but he doesn’t officially take office until January, but why? At the time, Americans had to wait before traveling due to the very harsh winter weather conditions. It was therefore impossible to travel, hence the wait until January for Inauguration Day.