In America, they call it Election Day , the day on which people vote, and it occurs every four years, with the possibility for the outgoing President to be elected for another four years. Specifically, this falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November . It may seem rather strange, but in reality, this decision stems from an act of Congress , dating back to 1845 , which requires citizens to vote in this manner, between the second and the eighth of November.
Tuesday was chosen because it was distant from Monday, which in turn was connected to Sunday, the Lord’s day, which was not to be involved in political matters under any circumstances. Furthermore, the other days of the week were dedicated to commercial activities , when citizens traveled to do business, sell, and earn money.
In America, voting takes place in November, a month certainly not chosen at random. November was the month when farmers had already finished preparing their fields for the long winter , but at the same time, winter had not yet arrived in full force; for those who went to vote on horseback or on foot, November therefore represented the right compromise.
The American Election System
America has its new President , Donald Trump , and during the long presidential campaign, the entire world has closely followed the unfolding events. And in Italy too, there has been great attention to the topic, of great importance for future developments and global balances. But how many times have the results or comments reported by journalists seemed incomprehensible to us? Or rather, the information was only comprehensible to those with a fairly thorough understanding of how the American electoral system works.
This is because the American electoral system is very different from ours, placing a heavy emphasis on individual states and their populations, which dictate their numbers, and because the election of the President is mediated by the presence of very important figures: the electors . But let’s try to understand more and understand why these figures are so important and what the entire American electoral system is based on.
During the US presidential campaign , there was much discussion about the candidates, the American electoral system, and how things work in America. Yes, because to discuss American politics, it’s necessary to understand the mechanisms that govern elections . For example, what are the electoral colleges? What are the so-called “hot” states? Here are all the answers.
The President of the United States of America is the head of government , responsible for all executive functions of the federal government , the commander of the Armed Forces , and is elected . However, when discussing American elections, a premise is necessary: American citizens do not directly elect the president but vote for the famous Electors , who were much discussed following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America.
But what does this mean? Let’s try to explain it better. The United States is a federal nation with 50 states . At the time of the presidential elections, each state receives a number of electors based on its number of representatives and senators . The number of congressmen depends on the state’s population, and the same is true for electors; this means that states with larger populations have more electors than smaller states.
Every presidential candidate is connected to a list of electors. But who are the electors? They are people, often party officials , who are chosen by the electoral committees. So far, so simple. The situation gets a little more complicated if we consider that out of 50 states, the electors of 48 states are elected by a first-past-the-post system.
This means that the candidate who gets the most votes wins in that state wins all the possible electoral votes . This means that even if the gap, in terms of percentages, is small, the victory is still clear, even if the difference is small.
Only two states, Maine and Nebraska , use proportional representation. This means that whoever wins one additional vote in that state wins two electoral votes, with an additional electoral vote awarded to the person with the most votes in each congressional district into which the state is divided.
In total there are 538 electors and, to become President, it is necessary to win with an absolute majority of votes, equal to 270. The citizens, then, choose the electors and the electors, gathered in the electoral college, vote for the President.
The electors, for each state, express their preference for a presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate . The results are then announced and formalized with the election of the new President of the United States.
In theory, electors can vote for whomever they choose , except in some states where a fine is imposed for changing their minds, regardless of the presidential candidate’s list to which they were affiliated. The political commitment to respect the will of the electors , therefore, is a politically motivated commitment that is almost always honored, except in a few rare cases where the pact has actually been violated, but without decisive results for the presidential election. The electors’ vote is secret, but in any case, since they vote in the capital, if there were a change of heart, it would be easy to identify the “culprit.”
In other cases, it may happen that one of the electors voluntarily chooses to declare his intention to no longer vote for his candidate in protest or to attract the attention of journalists and public opinion, but even in these cases, when this eventuality has occurred, it has not been a decisive episode for the election of the president.
Let’s now delve into the heart of the American majoritarian system and try to understand what happens if a candidate receives a majority of the total votes but a minority of the electoral votes, which could lead to their losing the election. Let’s look at an easy-to-understand practical example.
To simplify matters, let’s imagine that America has only three states, and that each of these three states has ten electoral colleges. Let’s also imagine the presidential candidates: candidate A and candidate B. In the first state, candidate A wins with almost 100% of the vote; in the second and third, candidate B wins with a majority of 52%.
In the event of a tie, candidate A wins, but not in terms of electoral votes . Ten electors will go to candidate A, who has defeated his opponent in the first state, but candidate B, having won the other two states, will take home 20 electors.
We’ve said that to be elected, the President needs the votes of 270 electors . But this conclusion isn’t always reached. It can happen, for example, that a tie is reached , with 269 votes. Or, it can also happen that there are three presidential candidates and they must therefore divide the number of electors . In these cases, Congress comes into play, although these eventualities are quite rare. If such an eventuality were to occur, the new President would be elected by the House of Representatives, and each delegation would be entitled to only one vote, regardless of the size of their territory.
The importance of some states: Ohio and Florida
We’ve said that each state elects a number of representatives and senators and, in the run-up to the elections, a number of electors calculated based on population. This means that the most populous states are very important for the elections. Florida and Ohio , therefore, are two very important states in this sense and can decide the outcome of the elections.
In particular, Ohio is defined as a “swing state ,” meaning a state that generally alternates between voting for the Democrats and occasionally voting for the Republicans. Ohio owes its reputation as a pivotal state to the days of Jimmy Carter, who defeated Ford by a narrow margin in 1976, thanks precisely to the votes of Ohioans.
America’s Long Night
Another profound difference that marks a completely different way of experiencing political elections in America is what is called ” the long American night .” In the United States, there is no Interior Ministry that, with data in hand, is committed to releasing the results after the initial projections, which become definitive with the passage of time.
In the United States, each state personally broadcasts its own results , one of the reasons why American political elections, regardless of coalition, are considered to be passionate and compelling from the point of view of their conduct.
