The Lead Up
Since announcing they were running for President, the candidates have been travelling across the United States, making appearances on television and participating in debates in order to increase their public support. Many of these public engagements have been broadcast across the world, especially when controversial comments are made.
The candidates have also been providing their plans for America, as well as attacking the ideas and methods of their rivals, even those within the same party. But what are the parties?
The Republicans and Democrats
The United States operates on a two party political system. The two parties are as follows.
The Republicans:
These elections, the Republican Party has entered 12 candidates, four times as many as the Democratic Party. From these , only one will be chosen to represent the party. The Republican Party is known for its conservatism and free market policies. This is reflected in the types of candidates seeking selection, such as, Jeb Bush, the son of George H. W. Bush and brother of George W. Bush (both former presidents), retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, billionaire and business magnate Donald Trump, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Texan Senator Ted Cruz.
These, and the seven other candidates from the Republican Party have substantially different policies and methods of carrying out their ideas, however they all share some similar ideals and plans for America, mainly to repeal legislation passed by current President, Barack Obama, in his last two terms of office. The candidates also seek to tighten the border with Mexico, cut taxes and government expenditure, loosen business regulations and protect conservative social ideals.
The Democrats:
At this stage in the election, the Democratic Party only has three candidates. The Democratic Party is the rival of the Republican Party, following the ideologies of progressivism and liberalism. Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton is currently the most popular Democrat candidate, closely followed by Bernie Sanders, a socialist civil rights activist who is currently serving as Senator for Vermont. Lastly, there is Martin O'Malley, the former Governor of Maryland.
The Democrat candidates find common ground on issues such as looking after the working class of the U.S., protecting the environment, ensuring that large banks are well regulated, increasing healthcare access to all Americans and several more issues. Democratic candidates also seek to continue the progress made by their fellow Democrat, Barack Obama. Beyond this however, the candidates have their own, distinct visions for the States.
So now that it is somewhat clearer who is running and the parties that they are running for, how are they elected?
Primaries and Caucuses
Primaries and caucuses are different methods used by the each state to select their preferred presidential candidate for the separate parties. In some, all voting citizens of the state may participate and in others, only those from the same party as the candidates. There are too many differences between primaries and caucuses to go into here. All that is important to remember is that they are used to select a candidate from each party. Primaries and caucuses take place on different dates according to each state, however, one day in particular bears significant importance. That day is Super Tuesday, when many states hold their primaries or caucuses on the same day. In the 2008 Presidential elections, 24 states held elections on this day.
It is also important to understand that the people do not elect their preferred candidate directly. Instead, they select delegates who are then pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Voting takes place at the party's National Convention, where the state delegates cast their votes to decide who will run for President from their respective party. If no candidate can achieve 50% of the votes, negotiations within the party take place, and some candidates will withdraw from the race. This allows a new vote to take place, however this time delegates are not bound to a particular candidate. After this vote, a winner will be decided to run as that party's candidate.
This year, the Republican National Convention will occur between July the 18th to the 21st, whilst the Democratic National Convention will take place between the dates of July the 25th and the 28th.
The Presidential Election Itself
This year, the elections for President will take place on November 8, 2016, however, like primaries and caucuses, the people do not directly elect the President. Instead they vote for electors who then in turn are pledged to vote for a certain candidate via the Electoral College. Each state has a certain amount of electors, depending on their population. California, which is the largest U.S. state in terms of population, has a total of 55 electors whilst the far more lightly populated state of Alaska only has three.
In almost all of the states, a "winner takes all" rule exists when it comes to electors. This means that the candidate with the most electoral votes in a particular state wins the vote of all electors from that state. For example, if the Republican candidate received six of the ten electoral votes in Wisconsin, that candidate would win the election in that state, and also take home the other four votes that were originally intended for the Democratic candidate and added to their total vote count. This system has been widely criticised as undemocratic and unfair since candidates can use votes that were not at all intended for them.
Many states lean heavily towards one party, such as Alabama, which consistently elects Republicans and Washington State, which consistently elects Democrats, but in some states, the results are less predictable. States where the population might vote for either party are known as 'swing states' and can often decide the fate of a particular candidate. Notable swing states include New Hampshire and Florida, which were critical in the 2000 Presidential Elections for example. As a result, much more money is spent on campaigning in these states than in those that are practically already decided.
When the votes have been counted in each state and the electors have been decided, it is already obvious who will win the election. However, the results will only be official when the 538 electors meet at the Electoral College and cast their votes on the 19th of December. The Vice President will then officially announce who the new President will be on January, 5th 2017. Fifteen days later the President will be inaugurated in Congress.
Hopefully this article was able to briefly explain the process in which the United States elects its President. If you think that I have missed something or have any questions you would like to see answered, feel free to leave a comment beneath this or message HMN here.
Hugh McFarlane