How does the U.S Presidential Election work?

 How does the U.S Presidential Election work?

the us presidential elections have 

become a spectacle for people in america and across the world every four years  the american people choose their next president through a seemingly simple process but the truthis actually much more complex than it appears does the popular vote determine the president is it the electoral college that decides how is the president of the untied states elected before a u.s president can be elected candidates need to go through a process that is referred to as the primary elections and caucuses the main difference between the primary elections and caucuses is that the latteris run by state parties meanwhile the former is controlled by state government in

state primary elections

voters cast their ballots much like in

the general election

in favor of who they wants to be the

party's nominee

who can vote in these primaries depends

on whether it is an open or

closed primary state in an open primary

state

both party voters and unaffiliated

voters can cast their ballots

in a closed primary state only those who

are registered to the specific party

are able to vote for a nominee in

contrast with the primary process

the caucuses occur quite differently

state parties

essentially hold meetings usually

lasting a few hours

and at the end take a vote amongst the

attendees to see

which potential nominee is preferred the

primaries tend to attract a wider

demographic of voters

due to the less time-consuming structure

and easier way of voting

whereas the caucuses tend to only

attract voters who are very strongly

politically involved

still some states choose a caucus over a

state-funded primary because it allows

the state party to pick their own voting

date

and general rules either way both the

primaries and

caucuses begin at the start of an

election year

and play a significant role in

determining each party's nominee

for the actual presidential race the

results of the pre-election proceedings

play a direct part in the decision that

each party makes

as to who will be their official

candidate for

the presidential race generally the

number of votes that each candidate

receives will decide the delegates that

are chosen to attend the party's

national convention

at the national convention these

delegates do a final

formal vote to determine the party

nominee

the vote should ordinarily reflect the

candidate who received the highest

number of votes from the primaries and

caucuses but if there was no clear

winner from the earlier method then the

delegates

will pick the nominee themselves once

both parties pick their nominees the

real

presidential race begins of course the

democratic and republican parties are

not the only political parties allowed

to be involved in the united states

elections

but they are the two main parties

and the minor parties such as the

libertarian and green parties

rarely have any relevance in american

elections

subsequently once nominees are chosen

most of the country begins to decide

whether they will vote in favor of the

democrats or

the republicans candidates will host

rallies and other events

make tv commercials and blaze the

campaign trails during this time

as the election draws near the

democratic and republican candidates

will also participate in a series of

debates

as will their vice presidential running

mates whom they had

chosen back at the national conventions

these debates are televised

nationally and give the american voters

a chance to see both options answer

hard questions about their politics and

plans should they win the white house

finally election day rolls around every

four

years on the tuesday after the first

monday in november

although many people wait to cast their

ballots in person on this day

numerous states have options for early

voting

whether it be in person or mail-in

ballots

so technically voting can begin a while

before

the actual election day and as

demonstrated in the 2020 election

ballot counting can last well beyond

election night

in terms of how voting works that is

where things can get

additionally complicated due to the

electoral

college many people are under the

assumption that the candidate who wins

the popular votes meaning the one who

has the most ballots cast in support of

them

actually wins the election and becomes

the next president of the united states

while that seems like a valid assumption

it is actually

incorrect the popular vote does matter

but really only

to a certain extent a presidential

candidate wins not through the votes of

the people alone

but through the accumulation of 270 or

more

electoral votes this is where the

electoral college comes into play

the electoral college is made up of a

group of electors

split amongst all 50 states and

washington dc

the number of electors that each state

holds is determined by the number of

members that state has in congress

california for example has 55 electors

whereas alaska only has three

as for who becomes an elector the rules

for those selections

also vary by state furthermore the laws

that determine how

electors must vote also comes down to

what state governments decide

as the constitution fails to cover this

in dc

and 48 states all but nebraska and maine

the electors must vote in favor of

whoever wins the state's popular vote

for that reason when the ballot tallying

begins we will see

each individual state counting their own

ballots and determining whether their

citizens went red

or went blue this is why some states

such as california again are referred to

by

many as a blue state it simply means

that the popular vote in those states

almost always if not always goes in the

direction of the democratic party

this process is also why many republican

voters in predominantly democratic

states and vice versa

often feel that their votes do not count

still the nationwide popular vote is

counted

even if it is more or less pointless

because winning the popular vote will

not give a candidate the presidency

a perfect example of this came in 2016

when hillary clinton won the popular

vote around 66 million

to around 63 million but donald trump

beat her in the electoral vote which

came to 304-227

in the case that no candidate receives a

majority of electoral votes

the house of representatives would

choose the next president while the

senate

would choose their vice president

although this did happen in the 1800

presidential election

the 12th amendment had not yet been

created which made the situation

slightly different at that time the

winner of the electoral votes would

become president

and the runner-up would be their vice

president when thomas jefferson

and aaron burr tied in 1800 it put

all the power in the hands of the house

of representatives

seeing the flaw in their system the

states decided to split the power

between both sections of congress

through the 12th amendment jumping back

to the modern day election process

it technically does not end after the

events of election day

even though due to the state laws we

essentially know how the states and dc

will cast their electoral votes it

technically does not happen

until mid-december additionally any

recounts or

court disputes concerning the results of

the election at a state level

must be resolved before the electors

cast their official votes

at the start of january congress comes

together to count the electoral votes

and assuming that one candidate reaches

the minimum winning number of 270

the president of the senate formally

announces who will be

the new president of the united states

inauguration day

then falls on january 20th via the

constitution

which specifies that a president's term

begins at exactly noon

on january 20th after each election the

ceremony is presided over by the chief

justice of the supreme court and is

usually attended by any living

former presidents as the outgoing

president welcomes the president-elect

into the white house before the latter

takes his oath of office

by 12 pm that day the united states

officially has its new president aside

from the lengthy process

of becoming the u.s president there are

also

a few requirements that determine who

can even run for

office for one the president must be a

natural-born

u.s citizen a citizen alone will not

qualify if they were not born in the

united states

a second requirement is the age of the

president who must be a minimum of 35

years old they also must be a resident

of the united states for

a minimum of 14 years these

qualifications were laid out by the

constitution

back before george washington took

office and remained the same

over 200 years later although some minor

details of the election process

has changed over time as well as the

ratifying of the 12th amendment

the method of electing a u.s president

has stayed fairly consistent

due to its inclusion in the constitution

the road to the white house has never

been as simple

as it appears to be at first glance to

some but

it serves as a thorough and effective

process

nonetheless currently there is some

debate as to whether the electoral

college should be reformed or even

eradicated

allowing the popular vote to directly

elect each new president alone

but since the existence of the electoral

votes was established by the

constitution

another amendment would be required and

more support for the idea would be