- The USA 59th Quadrennial Presidential Election was held on November 3, 2020.
- Joe Biden wins US Presidency with 290 electoral votes.
- He will be the 46th President of USA.
- He will be administered by the Chief Justice of Supreme Court.
- He is to assume office on January 20, 2021.
- Joe Biden from the Democratic Party won by beating Donald Trump from the Republic party.
- The election results make Trump the first one term president since 1990.
- Joe Biden (78) will become the oldest president of the USA.
- Joe Biden served as the 47th vice president of the USA from 2009 to 2017.
- Obama and Biden were first elected in 2008 and then re-elected in 2012.
- Kamala Harris from the Democratic party beat Mike Pence from the Republic Party for the post of Vice President of USA.
- She will become the first woman, first Indian American and first Black woman to become Vice President of the USA.
- Her mother is an Indian American born at Thulasenthirapuram village near Mannarkudi in Tamilnadu.
Process
- The US constitution doesn’t allow for one president to hold office for more than two terms.
- It is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C.
- They cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the Electoral College.
- These electors then cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for president, and for vice president.
- The candidate, who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes (at least 270 out of 538), is then elected to that office.
- In the US, the responsibility of conducting the elections falls on the secretary of the state.
- The secretary in some states are appointed by the Governor and in others is directly elected by the people.
- Most of the States in the US allow electronic methods.
- However, paper ballots are the norm across the country.
- All the three elections in the US, that is, for the federal, local and state are directly organised by the ruling governments of the individual state.
- Before counting, there is a stage called Processing.
- Processing involves verifying documentation, checking signatures and scanning ballots.
- Later comes the counting of votes.
- The US President and Vice President are not elected directly by the people.
- Instead, they are chosen by “electors” through a process called the “Electoral College”.
- A candidate should be
- A natural-born citizen of the USA.
- A resident of the USA for 14 years.
- At least 35 years old.
- The election for the President of USA is held once in four years.
- A person cannot run for US President election more than two times.
US electoral college system
- The USA uses the electoral college system to elect its President.
- Under the US electoral college system, each state is given a number of votes
- Each state gets a certain number of electors based on its population
- Each elector casts one electoral vote in the general election.
- Overall, a total of 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs.
- So, a candidate needs to hit 270 to win.