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The United States elections explained

2020-07-20T22:10:53.299Z


We took the top global search queries about the November presidential election in the United States. This is what you should know about what is happening with the 2020 elections.…


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(CNN) - What are the questions you really have about the upcoming elections? Those who search the Internet late at night.

We took the top global search queries about the November presidential election in the United States.

Here's what they should know about what's going on with the 2020 elections.

When do elections begin in the United States?

Big question! Short answer: Election day, as established by law, is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. This year is November 3rd.

Best answer: a few weeks before November 3. Many people in the US vote before or by mail, and it is expected that this year they will do so more than ever due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The best answer: it takes months. The presidential election begins with the primary elections, a process for the political parties - the Republican and the Democrat - to choose their candidates (this year they are Donald Trump and Joe Biden). The primaries that determine those candidates began in early 2020 and mostly ended in the northern hemisphere summer.

Also important: there are many other elections that take place at the same time as the presidential one. Voters will elect the 435 members of the United States House of Representatives, who are in office for two-year terms. Voters in some states will also elect their senators, who serve six-year terms.

The party that controls the two houses of Congress has a lot of power in Washington, making them important in terms of what the newly elected (or re-elected) president can accomplish.

When do the elections in the United States end?

Short answer: on November 3, although the last voting centers will close in Alaska after midnight, Miami time.

Best answer: when all the votes are counted.

The best answer: Given the high vote-by-mail expected this year for the pandemic, knowing who won the election will likely take more than a day. There is always the possibility of too obvious a win. However, neither side will admit defeat until they are absolutely certain that they have lost. (Flashback: Al Gore called George W. Bush to revoke recognition of his defeat in 2000.)

A close election could last days or even weeks as states wait for the ballots to reach their destination and the necessary counts are done before certifying their results. In 2000, the winner was unclear for more than a month.

Why is United States Election Day a Tuesday in November?

Although it is not in the Constitution, it is a question of law. Congress set the date in 1845.

Can elections be postponed or changed?

That has been an interesting question this year about the pandemic. Given that election day is established by law, Congress would need to pass a law and that the US president enact it to postpone or change the date. That does not seem likely.

Who can vote?

This is a very good and complicated question, especially since Republicans and Democrats have been fighting this year about access to voting.

The easy answer is given by Amendment 26 of the US Constitution, which establishes that the minimum age to vote is 18 years and that thereafter, the voice of American citizens can be heard.

But there is much more than that. First, voters do not directly elect the president. This is done by the Electoral College, which includes representatives -electors- from each state, who vote according to the result of the popular vote. So ordinary citizens go to the polls to decide who will get the electoral votes from their states. (More on that in a moment).

The rules are different in each state and may even vary within the states themselves.

It is notable that in recent years, a series of new state laws has tried to make voting more difficult. Proponents of these laws cite fraud concerns, though studies find electoral fraud extremely rare. They have demanded identification requirements in some places. They have tried to refine the voter lists. Opponents have complained that these restrictions are a form of voter repression.

Related: who can vote in the United States election?

Prisoners can vote in Vermont and Maine, but not elsewhere. In 2016, voters approved an initiative to restore those rights to criminals in Florida, but they have been held back by Republicans who run the state government.

Add to that the brand of slavery and repression, which kept blacks from voting, first as slaves and then through literacy tests and electoral taxes. Let's also add that women weren't able to vote in every US state until 1920.

In addition, there are the territories. Puerto Ricans, for example, are citizens of the United States, but the territory does not have votes in the Electoral College, so the people registered there have no voice in the November presidential election, although they can vote in the primaries of each party.

Puerto Ricans can vote in the general elections when they live in any of the 50 US states.

what's inside the ticket?

Short answer: Most Americans vote for the President and Congress, but the November ballots will also include state and local elections, so they will differ from city to city and state to state.

Long answer: anyone who votes in a US state can vote for the president. But the options will be different depending on the state. Biden and Trump will be on each ballot, but there will be other, smaller party options that vary by state rule.

Everyone who votes in a US state will also vote for a member of Congress, with a few exceptions. Residents of the nation's capital, Washington, elect only one nonvoting delegate to Congress. In the same way, the residents of Puerto Rico only elect a delegate without the right to vote to Congress.

Each US state gets two senators, whether its population is small like Wyoming's or huge like California's. But since senators serve six-year terms, only a third of them are on the ballot in any given year.

Some states will elect governors this year and others will not. Most ballots will also have some combination of state and local elections. Some states have voting initiatives and ask their residents about all kinds of issues. In addition, some people will also have to vote for local initiatives. Again, they are all different.

Go to your local government or your state secretary of state for a sample ballot.

How are senators chosen in the United States?

They are elected by popular vote within a state. But this is not how the Constitution imagined it at first. Senators used to be selected by state legislatures. The creators of the Magna Carta wanted to protect senators from public opinion. But it turned out to be a horribly corrupt practice and it took over 100 years of effort to reform the Constitution. Finally in 1913, Amendment 17 established that the people must elect their senators.

How are members of the United States House of Representatives elected?

They are elected by popular vote within the legislative districts. But it's worth mentioning that not all Congressional districts are represented equally. The census, which is conducted every 10 years (even in 2020), determines how many congressional districts each state receives.

Political parties have tried - for a long time - to take advantage of the layout of their districts within states. Political parties have often helped solidify their majorities in the states and protect incumbents with creatively "drawn" districts. The process of drawing strange lines to favor a party, known as "gerrymandering," has been the subject of numerous court cases. Other states have tried to do it more fairly, by adopting nonpartisan or bipartisan commissions to redraw district lines.

Population disparities in the country have become somewhat ridiculous. Wyoming's only congressional district has fewer than 600,000 people, and a district in California or Texas will have more than 700,000.

After the 2020 census, there will be a "redistribution" and some states could lose or win seats in Congress depending on changes in population.

How is the President of the United States chosen?

This is complicated!

Each state runs its own elections, but they all have the Republican and Democratic candidates on their ballots. Although there is no technical rule that says the choice must be between these two parties, that is indeed the case. Parties elect their candidates during a series of primaries, which generally begin in January of the general election year. From there, the schedule is established:

All states hold their general elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Then, the voters - the people who will vote in the Electoral College - are chosen based on the winner in the state elections.

Voters from each state meet in the state capital on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. This year it will be December 14, and there they cast their vote for President and Vice President.

Then they send them to the Capitol in Washington before December 23.

Finally, the electoral votes of each state are awarded to the winner of that state, except in Maine and Nebraska, where two electoral votes go to the state winner and the rest go to the winner of the congressional district.

Once in Congress, the acting vice president counts the votes of the Electoral College on January 6.

There are two weeks to resolve the latest disputes or doubts, and on January 20, the new president takes office.

Is the electoral vote based on the popular vote?

NO! And that's how Trump turned out to be president despite the fact that more people voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The same thing happened with the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, and with a handful of other presidents in history. The system, which benefits smaller and less populous states today, was created before the majority of the United States population could vote. He gave southern states partial credit for their enslaved populations to determine the size of their representation, but gave voting rights only to certain white men.

Related: the history of the Electoral College

Today, American voters vote for the president, even though they elect the voters who will ultimately elect the president. The number of voters has been set at 538 since 1964 and 270 is required to win. Each state has a number of voters equal to its representation in Congress (representatives in the House plus two senators). So Wyoming has three voters, while California, the most populous state, has 55.

When are the election results announced?

Election officials generally begin counting and reporting the results once the polling stations have closed in their area. You will see those results begin to appear and you can hear the news agencies - like CNN - projecting the winners fairly quickly. Or they will hear about one of the candidates who recognizes defeat.

Some larger news organizations look at the incoming results, exit polls, and other data on Election Night and, in many cases, can project which candidate will win. However, if there is not enough information, it can take a long time for a winner to be confirmed.

Related: CNN interactive map of the Electoral College. Try different scenarios to reach 270 electoral votes.

Americans generally know who won the presidency on the day of the election. This time, counting votes could take much longer as more people vote by mail or absentee. But the formal process of electing a president (see above) continues for months, and the winner isn't technically announced until at least Jan. 6. But that's just a technicality unless something different happens.

Can the elections end in a tie?

Yes, no ... and more or less. They cannot end in a tie in which there will finally be a president. But there may be a tie between electoral votes along the way. If, after Election Day, neither candidate reaches 270 electoral votes (or both tie with 269), the House of Representatives intervenes to elect the president and each state delegation would obtain one vote. And they would continue like this until one of the candidates obtained the majority.

Fans of the story should read about the 1824 election, when the House of Representative appointed John Quincy Adams president even though Andrew Jackson initially garnered more popular and electoral votes.

When does the winner take possession?

At noon on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Mark it on your calendar.

Source: cnnespanol

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