46th
President of USA Elections
Notes for Civils Services Exam 2021(Prelims)
Prepared by
P.Potayya Sarma,MA,LLB,PGDIRPM
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. Democrat Party
As per available data , defeated Mr.Donald Trump Republican Party in November,2020 Elections
Electoral College : 538 votes
Biden : 253 + (Pennsylvania 20 electoral
college seats
Arizona : 11 electoral college seats
Nevada : 6 electoral college seats)
Democrates built new wall
( winning in Michigan
Wisconsin
Pennsylvania
)
About 79 million Americans voted for Biden
Mr.Biden won in Michigan , Wisconsin
Mr. Donald Trump received about 73 million votes
Electoral College:
Across the US, there are 538 electors
To win the Presidency, a candidate would be
required to secure atleast 270 votes in the electoral college.
Electoral College refers to the process by
which the winner of the popular vote in each state is allocated a pre-specified
number of electoral delegates, or electors, per US sate and these electors go
on to decide who the President of the country will be.
The Electros of each state are appointed by
the Democatic and Republican parties (and third parties, where applicable ) of
the state.
The Electoral College follows a winner –
takes – all for the popular vote, giving the first candidate past the post of
all the electors of that state.
For example :
If more than 50% of the voters in
North Carolina vote for the Republican Party, then all the electors allocated
to that state will be Republican.
Each state has the same number of Electors as
it does members in its congressional delegation, namely
One for each Member in the House of
Representatives and two Senators.
Once the votes are in, the electors are
required to meet on the first Monday
after the second Wednesday of December to cast ballots for the President and
Vice – President
In 2020, that will be on December 14
Swing states of the 2020 election included :
Arizona
Florida
Largest swing state in USA
Georgia
Iowa
Michigan
Nevada
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Ohio Microcosm of the USA ( 18
electoral votes)
Pennsylvania
Texas
Wisconsin
Who suggested Electroal College System ?
James Wilson of Pennsylvania State (one of
the founding fathers of the USA)
He suggested Electoral College System as a
compromise , wherein “Electors would serve as informed intermediaries between
the masses and their government and have independence to break from the popular
vote in their States when they deemed that necessary”.
Alexander Hamilton endorsed the system in
1788 AD
Each of the 50 states plus Washington D.C.
Is given a number of electoral college votes,
adding upto a total of 538 votes
More populous states get more Electoral
College votes than smaller ones.
A candidate needs to win 270 electoral
college votes ( 50% plus one ) to win the election .
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INDIA |
USA |
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1)”Plurality
“voting system, where the candidate winning the most votes in a constituency
is elected . |
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1)’Constituency
means |
In
India, normally, ‘Constituency ‘ means Lok Sabha constituency or MLA
constituency etc. |
1)It
is mostly a ‘State’ in the USA Presidential election |
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2) a)In
48 States and District Columbia most votes in a State , receives all of that
State’s electors |
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b)Nebraska
and Maine are further divided in Congressional Districts |
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2)Mailed-in
votes |
In
India, postal ballot paper facility is
there to government officials who are election duty and army
personnel, etc. For
Senior citizens, it is being under consideration |
In
USA, this facility is given to all Voters. Ballot
paper system is used in USA |
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Each
State gets electors for 2
US Senators + No.
of Members in the House of Representative ,from each State |
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California
has maximum electors : 55 |
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Alaska
has only 3 electoral votes |
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USA
Population : 328,239,523 |
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328,239,523 ÷ 538 = 6,10,111 people on an average Per
electoral vote |
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Florida
: 29 electoral votes Population
: 21,477,737 (Per
electoral vote : 740,612 82.4% - in
USA electoral college |
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Wyoming :
3 electoral votes Population
: 578,759 (Per
electoral vote : 192,920) 316.3
% - in USA electoral college |
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Sl.No. |
Name
of the STATE |
No.
of DISTRICTS |
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1 |
Alaska
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1 |
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2 |
Alabama |
7 |
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3 |
Arkansas |
4 |
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4 |
Arizona |
9 |
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5 |
California |
53 |
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6 |
Colorado |
7 |
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7 |
Connecticut |
5 |
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8 |
Delaware |
1 |
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9 |
Florida |
27 |
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10 |
Georgia
(Special election) |
1 |
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11 |
Georgia |
(14-1
= 13) |
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12 |
Iowa |
4 |
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13 |
Idaho |
2 |
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14 |
Illinois |
18 |
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15 |
Indiana |
9 |
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16 |
Kansas |
4 |
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17 |
Kentucky |
6 |
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18 |
Lousiana |
6 |
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19 |
Massachusettes |
9 |
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20 |
Maryland |
8 |
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21 |
Maine |
2 |
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22 |
Michigan |
14 |
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23 |
Minnesota |
8 |
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24 |
Missouri |
8 |
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25 |
Mississippi |
4 |
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26 |
Montana |
1 |
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27 |
North
Carolina |
13 |
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28 |
North
Dakota |
1 |
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29 |
Nebraska |
3 |
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30 |
New
Hampshire |
2 |
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31 |
New
Jersey |
12 |
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32 |
New
Mexico |
3 |
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33 |
Nevada |
4 |
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34 |
New
York |
27 |
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35 |
Ohio |
16 |
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36 |
Oklahama |
5 |
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37 |
Oregon |
5 |
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38 |
Pennsylvania |
18 |
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39 |
Rhode
Island |
2 |
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40 |
South
Carolina |
6 |
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41 |
South
Dakota |
1 |
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42 |
Tennessee |
9 |
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43 |
Texas |
36 |
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44 |
Utah |
4 |
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45 |
Virginia |
10 |
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46 |
Vermont |
1 |
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47 |
Washington
|
10 |
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48 |
Wisconsin |
8 |
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49 |
West
Virginia |
2 |
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50 |
Wyoming |
1 |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES :
House of Representatives has 435 voting
seats, each representing a district of similar size.
There are elections in each of these seats in
every two years
Republics : 205
Democrats : 222
SENATE :
The upper house , Senate , has 100 members, who sit for 6 years term.
1/3rd of the seats come up for
election each two-year cycle.
Each state has two senators, regardless of
its population
è Wyhomiyong
population : less than 6,00,000
è California
population : almost 40 million
Republicans : 50
Democrats : 48
HOW AMERICAN PRESIDENT IS ELECTED :
The constitution provided that the President
should be elected by an ‘electoral college’ consisting of as many ‘presidential
electors’ as is the number of members in both the Houses of Congress.
Each state is to send as many representatives
as , it has Senators and representatives in the House of Representatives (
i.e., Congress)
Each State is represented by 2 Senators
plus number of members in the House of
Representatives
A candidate getting majority of total votes (
i.e., 269 ) is declared as elected.
HOW ELECTORS ARE ELECTED :
They are elected by the people of the State
concerned.
Procedure :
i)
Nomination of the candidates
The
candidates for the Presidency and Vice-presidency are nominated by the Parties.
ii)
The Campaign :
After
the nomination of the Presidential candidates and their subsequent election by
their respective party conventions, nationwide Presidential campaign starts.
iii)
ELECTORAL COLLAGE :
The
next stage in the Presidential election falls in November of the election year,
when Presidential electors are to be elected.
Every
citizen of 21 years of age or above is entitled to vote.
Through
26th Amendment to the USA Constitution, the age is reduced to 18
years in 1971.
In
theory, the voters cast their votes for the Presidential electors.
The
Presidential electors are in fact elected
in each State as a group and not as individuals.
All
the nominees of the party which polls the largest number of popular votes in a
State are deemed to be elected.
As
per the language of the American Constitution :
On
Tuesday, after the first Monday in November of every Leap Year , election to
the ‘Presidential electors’ takes place.
These
electors meet in the Capital of each state on first Monday after the second
Wednesday in December and record their votes for Presidential candidates.
On
6th January in a Joint Session of both the Houses of Congress held
at Washington , presided over by the President (Chairman) of the Senate, the
sealed boxes are opened and votes are counted.
A
party securing majority of votes is declared as elected.
Since
1964, there have been 538 electors.
There
are 100 Senators
435 House of Representatives
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535 plus 3*
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*The
remaining 3 electors come from WAshsington , D.C.
The majority mark in the 538 – member
electoral college - will be 270 , the
winners
Biden and Harris are scheduled to be
inaugurated on January 20, 2021
The votes of the electoral college for
President and Vice – President are scheduled to be formally cast by
Presidential electors on December 14,2020 and officially counted by Congress on
January 6,2021.
Re-elected to the US House of
Representatives:
1) Ami
Bera
2) Pramila
Jayapal
3) Raja
Krishnamoorthi
4) Ro
Khanna
‘Samosa Caucus ‘ :
Kamala Harris --- Senator
Race / Ethnicity :
1) White
2) Black
3) Hispanic
4) Asian
SOURCES OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION :
American Constitution :
1) Fundamental
Rights
2) Federation
3) Supreme Court
4) Indian
Provinces are now known as States
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