With the U.S. Presidential elections approaching, excitement can be sensed in the air as there is a tough tie between the two major parties, the Democratic and the Republican, likely to be represented by the current President Joe Biden, and the former President Donald Trump. Apart from these, there are other emerging third parties like the Libertarians and the Green, who though may find it hard to win against the biggies, might give a tough competition.

When do the U.S. Presidential Elections take place?

The U.S. Presidential elections which are held every 4 years, this time are scheduled to be held on November 05, 2024.

Who Can Contest

Any citizen of the United States, who has been brought up there and has resided in the country for at least 14 years, and is at least 35 years of age, can contest for the post of President. A President can serve not more than 2 terms of 4 years each, meaning 8 years in office.

How it all works?

The road to the Presidency is not an easy one. Apart from the duties of the President that one hopes to happily take over, the entire procedure is very lengthy as it begins about a year before the actual elections. That said, it is all worth it as the post is also crucial.

To break it down, it takes place in different phases, beginning with a Year before the actual elections, when the political parties begin their campaigning. This is also when the parties gather like-minded people and go around the country to gather votes and raise funds for their campaigns.

Next, debates take place on National television where aspiring parties have to answer important questions about their agenda and their take on the opposition party’s policies.

This is followed by the actual election process which can be a Primary or a Caucus. A Caucus is a local gathering of party members who, through their discussions and votes, pick the best candidate that they think can represent them. At the same time, the Primary is a modern, state-level election, where party members vote for a candidate they prefer through a secret ballot, to represent them in the General elections.

Both Primaries and Caucuses are seen as sort of an experiment to get an idea as to which of the potential nominees could possibly win.

Then comes the National Convention, where delegates chosen from the Primaries and Caucuses, now gather to officially nominate their party’s preferred Presidential candidate. This gives a final candidate from each party who will contest for the post of President in the upcoming elections.

This time, the Democratic Party had 3945 pledged candidates while the Republicans had 2429. So, Biden was required to secure at least the majority of 1973 of the Democratic votes while Trump, at least the majority of 1215 of the Republicans.

Following next are the General elections, where, as the name suggests, the general public from each state casts their vote for the candidate whom they wish to see as their next President and Vice-President.

Who Can Vote?

A person who is a citizen of America, is at least 18 years of age and meets his/her State’s residency and registration requirements, is eligible to cast the vote.

In the next phase, the Electoral College, the trickiest of them all, decides the fate of the country for at least the next 4 years. There are a total of 538 electors in the Electoral College, and each State has electors proportional to its population. The votes from the General election held previously were actually going to this body of electors, who then cast their vote for their preferred Presidential candidate. The elector, who collects the maximum votes for general elections in each State, automatically makes his preferred candidate win a seat in that particular State. Likewise, the candidate must secure at least a majority of the total 538 seats, which is 270, to win the Presidential election.

The inauguration for the newly elected President and vice-president is then held in January next year.

The Current Scenario

This year’s elections are very critical and one cannot for sure say who could win or lose considering the situation on both sides. While both the candidates of the leading parties hold an influential position within their parties, there are certain reasons attached to both as to why their people might not end up voting for them or their party. While Biden, who is currently 81 years of age, has the benefit of incumbency, he has been told to pass the position onto someone else due to his age. As for Trump, even though his influence has not faded over the Republicans has not faded ever since his term ended, he has been indicted four times which could severely affect his nomination.

The Parties’ Policies and Agendas

Both the Democrats and the Republicans have rolled out the core agendas that they will aim to fulfill during their tenure.

The Democrats are in favour of progressiveness, promoting clean energy through solar projects while cutting oil and gas allowance; protecting abortion rights and also LGBTQ+ rights.

On the other hand, the Republican Party is taking the more conservative road, implying strict immigration acts, cutting out the taxes hence boosting the economy, and imposing American interests Internationally in terms of foreign policy.

The U.S. Presidential Elections and their Impact Globally

The elections might be taking place in the U.S. but the results are awaited eagerly all over the World as the winning candidate would dictate the U.S. relations with other countries for the next four years. This includes all IN affairs like trade and militancy.

The US Presidential elections are complicated but also very crucial as they shape the expectations of the people, not just nationally, but also internationally.

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