I though that a reminder of the American presidential election mechanism could be useful to follow the coming election.
The presidential election is scheduled on the first Tuesday following November 1st. Why Tuesday? In the beginning, the Americans, far away from the city were they had to vote, did not travel on a Sunday (God’s day) but travelled on a Monday to be able to vote on Tuesday.
This 58th quadrennial election since 1788 is scheduled for Tuesday 8 November 2016 and shall allow the election of the 45th President of the United States of America…
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Thank you Philippe for this very informative post!
Why so complicated? Voting for electors who will vote instead of you! In other countries, I think, people vote, the votes are counted, and someone will be elected. Simple as that! I don’t understand United States election system. I think it gives leeway to some “elite” people to manipulate the results legally, but I might be mistaken.
As far as I know, there are several arguments for and against the Electoral College system.
The main argument against this system is that popular vote is not the deciding factor. More people may vote for you in the whole country and you may still lose, as was the case with Al Gore against George Bush.
There are arguments for such a system though, such as it preventing an urban-centric victory.
This might happen next Tuesday if Mr. Trump wins a majority of votes across the country and Mrs. Clinton a majority of the Electoral votes.