The US general elections are held every four years in which Americans elect their President, members of the House of Representatives, and one-third of the senate.
Contrary to popular belief, the US president is not elected directly by the voters. The president is elected by the 535-strong Electoral College. The voters in each state essentially cast their ballot for the state’s slate of electors. Whichever candidate wins the state effectively wins support from that party’s slate of electors. A candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes to become president.
Yes. Because of how the Electoral College system is designed, a candidate can be elected president even without getting a majority of the votes. The most notable examples are George W Bush, who was elected president despite not getting a majority of the popular vote in 2000, and Donald Trump in 2016, who garnered fewer votes than his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Any candidate must fulfil three requirements — be a natural-born citizen of the United States (this includes anyone born to citizens of the United States, be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.
The Electoral College comprises electors that each state is allotted. These are not equally distributed, but rather on the number of elected representatives each state has — members of the House of Representatives and two senators. which means a state like California has 54 electors, which is more than twice the number of the total electors that the states of Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia has.
The US elections — general or midterm — are always held on the first Tuesday of November in an election year. Called Super Tuesday, this year, the elections will be held on November 5.
Voting in the US is a mix of mail-in ballots, voting machines, and paper ballots. The results are usually announced a few hours after voting closes. This is around 7-8 am IST. In unusual cases, where the race is too tight to call, the results might be declared later. In case the result falls within the margin of error, the candidates must face a runoff election, which is essentially a second election. The new President of the United States will take the oath of office — the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court — on January 20, 2025.
All 435 members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the 100-member US Senate (34) are also elected. A member of the House of Representatives is elected for a two-year term and a senator is elected for six years. Ever two years, voters elect the entire House of Representatives and 34 senators who are running for re-election. In the middle of a presidential term, these are called midterm elections.
