The election for the next President of the United States (POTUS) is perhaps one of the momentous events in recent past, having huge global implications and determining the trajectory of American politics for many years.
It is a also referendum on many challenging issues as well as personality and the outcome has far-reaching ramifications on global geopolitical economy and ideological moorings, and will guide the direction the United States takes in global affairs hereafter. Leaving aside the ideological proclivity of the candidates, supporters and general observers across the globe, one thing is clear – the election for the next POTUS draws intense global interest.
On the last day of the race for the White House, both the candidates – the incumbent President, Donald John Trump and the challenger, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr focussed their energy by campaigning and pumping up support in what is unique US political system - battleground states.
Under this voting system, it is not the direct popular votes that elect the President and the Vice President, but they are chosen indirectly through a process called the Electoral College.
According to usa.gov, the number of electors each state gets is equal to the total number of its Senators and Representatives in Congress and they form the Electoral College. The total number of Senators and Representatives in Congress is 538.
When a voter in a particular state cast its ballot for president, it goes to a State-wide tally and the candidates with highest votes get the electoral votes in 48 states, while Maine and Nebraska assign their electors using a proportional system. The candidate who gets 270 or more votes wins.
Consequently, irrespective of whether a candidate wins more popular votes nationally, the outcome is dependent on whether the contestant gets the ‘electors’ from each state. In essence, wining more states matters, rather than wining more aggregates votes. For instance, during the 2016 elections, Hillary Clinton won more popular votes than Donald Trump but as she could not muster enough ‘electors,’ she lost the elections.
The US election, in the end, wires down to some crucial states which a candidate must win to reach the 270-mark. The battle, thus, shifts to those states where either candidates or the parties the represent – Democrats and the Republicans – do not have clear majority depending on historical precedence as well as the current outlook.
Nationally, almost all the exit polls show a clear majority for the Democrats while numbers are favourable in key battleground states. But having learnt their lesson in 2016, no one is taking chances.
With his ‘unconventional’ style of leadership, incumbent Trump engenders both utmost awe and deep despair, depending on one’s political spectrum. However, if politics was a market, there is no doubt that he is a glib salesman who knows the targeted market in and out, and not someone to be written off easily.
Numbers apart, the election is being held amid widespread polarisation over several issues confronting the United States and the world, particularly diplomacy and foreign policy, race and immigration, religion, climate change and global trade. Most importantly, the most crucial election held amid the spread of COVID-19 would determine the response against the global pandemic in the most immediate future. These issues have global reverberation given the enormous influence the country exerts throughout the world.
As US voters go to ballot on November 3, an outcome of global proportion and ramification lies ahead.
