US Election 2024: Votes will be cast for the presidential election (US elections 2024) in the US on November 5, 2024. This is the 60th presidential election. In this, American citizens elect the President and Vice President. Both have a tenure of 4 years. On this occasion, Donald Trump is in the fray for the post of President from the Republican Party and JD Vance for the post of Vice President. While the Democratic Party has made the current Vice President Kamala Harris the President and Tim Walz the Vice Presidential candidate. Along with this, some independent candidates are also in the electoral fray.Â
Let’s know how the President is elected in America? At what time will the voting start? When will the exit poll results come? When does the new President start working in the White House:-
Table of Contents
When is the election in America?
This time the presidential elections are being held in America on 5 November 2024 (Tuesday). There is a time difference between India and America. So this day will be 6 November here. The term of the government there is 4 years, which will start from January 2025. The new President will take the oath of office and secrecy on 20 January. If 20 January falls on Sunday, then the term of the new President starts from 21 January.
Why is voting held only on Tuesday in America?
In America, voting takes place on the Tuesday following Monday in the first week of November every 4 years. If the first day of the beginning of November is Tuesday, then also elections are not held on this day. Actually, when the law was made in 1845 to hold simultaneous elections in all the states in America, then most of the people used to do farming. Farmers had free time in the early days of November. Therefore, the month of November was fixed for voting. Now it was the turn of voting day. On Sunday, most of the people used to go to church for prayer. Therefore, Sunday was rejected. The markets used to remain closed on Wednesday. Therefore, it was decided not to hold elections on this day as well.
Many people had to travel long distances to reach the polling booth. Therefore, Monday was also not considered a suitable day. Thursday and Friday were not considered suitable due to religious reasons. Hence, only Tuesday was fixed as the voting day.Â
How many political parties are there in America?
There are many parties in America. But most people know only the Democratic and Republican parties. These two are the oldest parties and both are effective in the election process. Apart from this, Green Party, Libertarian Party and Constitution Party contest elections only for the sake of name. They never come into notice.
What is the eligibility to vote?
In America, people aged 18 years and above can exercise their voting rights. In all states except North Dakota, people have to register themselves before voting. All states have their own voter registration process and deadline.
What is the voting timing?
Voting for the US Presidential election will take place on November 5 from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm local time in polling stations. According to the timing in India, it can be seen on November 6 from 4:30 am to 6:30 pm.
US Election 2024: When will the exit poll results come?
Exit polls for the US election will start after 2:30 am on the night of November 6 and 7 as per Indian time.Â
US Election 2024: When will the results be announced?
Counting of votes will begin immediately after voting. News channels will keep announcing the names of the winners of different states of America as the counting is completed, but the complete picture will be clear only after the votes of every state are counted. The final decision may take several days or even weeks. It depends on how fast the votes are counted and whether any legal challenges arise.
What is the process of American elections?
The process of election of the President is mentioned in Article 2 of the Constitution of America. There is a system of election of the American President through the ‘Electoral College’. The election process begins with the ‘primary’ in the first month of the election year i.e. January and continues till June. In this round, the party releases the list of its candidates who want to contest for the post of President. After this, in the second round, voters of 50 states of America choose the party representative (party delegate). The party representatives elected in the primary participate in the party’s conference in the second round. In the convention, these representatives elect the party’s presidential candidate. The nomination process takes place in this round.
The third phase begins with the election campaign. In this, candidates from different parties try to garner the support of voters. During this time, there is a debate on issues related to this matter on television between the candidates. After this, in the final process of the election, the ‘Electoral College’ votes for the post of President. But before this, voters of the states choose electors, who are supporters of one or the other candidate for the post of President.
How is the winner chosen after the election?Â
Electors form an ‘Electoral College’, which has a total of 538 members. With the selection of the ‘Elector’, the election for the general public ends. Finally, the members of the ‘Electoral College’ elect the President of America through voting. At least 270 electoral votes are required to become the President. In America, there is a rule of ‘winner takes all’, that is, the one who is number-1 gets all the seats of the state. This is why Donald Trump became the President even after getting 28.6 lakh less votes than Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
What happens if no one gets majority in the election?
If a candidate or party fails to secure 270 electoral votes, then the House of Representatives i.e. Lok Sabha elects the President. All American states have 435 representatives. But in this voting, every state gets only one vote. In such a situation, the candidate who secures 26 votes in the 50 states becomes the winner.
Has this ever happened in the history of America?
This has happened twice in America. In 1800, when no candidate got a majority, Thomas Jefferson was elected President by the House of Representatives. In 1824, Quincy Adams was elected President in a similar way.
How did the elephant and the donkey become election symbols?
The election symbol of the Democratic Party is the donkey. While the election symbol of the Republicans is the elephant. The story behind the elephant and the donkey becoming a part of the American elections is interesting.
In the US presidential election in 1828, Andrew Jackson was the candidate from the Democratic Party. He was pitted against John Adams of the Whig Party. Adams made fun of Jackson’s election campaign and his election promises. At one time, Adams started calling Jackson Jackass in his campaign with the intention of teasing him. Jack means Jackson and S means donkey. Jackson finally took it as a challenge. He also included the picture of the donkey in his election campaign posters. After this, it became the election symbol of the Democratic Party.
During the 1860 elections, Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln was leading strongly in the state of Illinois. In such a situation, his supporters started publishing the picture of an elephant in place of Lincoln in newspapers to show him as powerful. America’s famous cartoonist Thomas Nest played an important role in identifying the Republican Party with the elephant.
US Election 2024: How did advance voting happen before the elections?Â
There is a system of advance polling or pre-polling before the elections in America. This is done keeping in mind the busy life of the people. Till Tuesday, more than 1.5 crore Americans have cast their votes. This voting has been done through mail in more than 47 states.
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