US Elections 2024: The presidential elections in the United States, arguably the most-watched electoral contest globally, will culminate on Nov. 5 when the ballots will close. Around 244 million Americans are eligible to cast their vote to elect the country’s 47th president.
The primary contest is between Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump, but other candidates in the fray include Green Party’s Jill Stein and Libertarian Party’s Chase Oliver.
The voting process kickstarted on Sept. 20 when most of the US provinces began early in-person voting. The only provinces that bar early voting are Mississippi, Alabama and New Hampshire. A bulk of the American provinces also allow voters to register their mandate via absentee ballots or mails.
However, most of the Republican-controlled states require the voters to submit a reason to vote by mail. In the 2020 presidential election, which was held under the Covid-19 shadow, 42% of the voters registered their mandate through absentee ballots. Trump, who lost that election against then Democrat rival and the current outgoing President Joe Biden, had alleged that absentee voting was fraudulent.
Once the voting concludes, the focus shifts towards the electoral college — a 538-member body that officially elects the US president. The members of the electoral college are called electors, and each state nominates a certain number of electors based on their strength in the House of Representatives and the Senate — the two wings of the US Congress.
The candidates running for president have their own group of electors in all the provinces. So, when voters register their vote for a presidential candidate, they are actually voting for the candidate’s electors in that state.
Jan. 20, 2025, US president election process the change of guards will be completed. On this date, the four-year tenure of the elected president and vice-president will officially begin. Latest Survey Shows Donald Trump Takes Narrow Lead Over Kamala Harris.
Get ready for the US Elections 2024 on Nov. 5. Understand key dates, the voting process, the role of the Electoral College, and the significance of swing states in determining the next president. The primary contest is between Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump, but other candidates in the fray include Green Party’s Jill Stein and Libertarian Party’s Chase Oliver.
