Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press.
With only hours to go before the decision on who will be the president of the United States for the next four years, the votes are still coming in, and today those who could not vote in person before will be able to do so.
While more than 100 million Americans have voted so far, thousands still turn out and line up to cast their votes to decide whether Republican Donald J. Trump stays in the White House for four more years or Democrat Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States.
But how does one choose the president in the United States?
Many might think that the candidate with the highest number of votes from the voters is the winner, but in the United States this is not the case. The country has an indirect presidential election system, which means that it is not the popular vote that defines the winner, but rather an Electoral College made up of 538 voters.
Each state has as many "electors" as members of Congress (House of Representatives and Senate), which can vary, but there are at least three per state.
The "electors or delegates", who come from all the states plus Washington DC, are citizens elected by the political parties, the number of electors for each state is proportional to that of its population, and once the popular vote has been cast, they are inclined towards some candidate.
In 48 states and Washington D.C., the candidate with the largest number of citizen votes gets all the electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska allocate their electors using a proportional system.
A candidate needs the vote of at least 270 voters (one more than half of the total) to win the presidential election.
In most cases, it is likely to project a potential winner on election night, after the popular citizen vote count is completed. However, the Electoral College vote, which officially determines the winner, takes place in mid-December when voters gather in their states.
It should be noted that it is possible to win the Electoral College vote but lose the popular vote, as evidenced by the fact that, to date, five presidents have won the U.S. presidency despite not exceeding the popular votes of their contenders: George W. Bush, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Q. Adams and Donald J. Trump.
While it is unlikely, what happens if no presidential candidate receives 270 electoral votes?
If that happens, the presidential election leaves the Electoral College process and goes to Congress. Thus, the House of Representatives chooses the president from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes. Each state delegation has one vote and it is up to the states to determine how to vote, but a candidate must receive at least 26 votes (a majority of the states) to be elected.
For its part, the Senate chooses the vice president from the two candidates for office with the most electoral votes. Each senator casts one vote, and a candidate must receive at least 51 votes (a majority of senators) to win.
If the House of Representatives does not elect a president before opening day, the vice president-elect acts as interim president until the dispute is resolved.
And can the electoral votes be challenged when Congress counts the votes in January?
Under federal law, an objection to a state's electoral votes can be filed with the president of the Senate during the congressional vote count in January. The objection must be in writing and signed by at least one senator and one member of the House of Representatives.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are debating the objection separately. Debate is limited to two hours, and after discussion, both the Senate and the House of Representatives return and must both agree to reject the votes.
