(This article is written for the Indians in India and other countries and not for the Indian Americans in the United States as requested by one of the members of IL) The American Constitution is unique in the sense that the President of the United States is elected by the electoral college and not directly by the American voters. The American public only vote for their preference based on their political affiliation or those who are neutral deciding who they were going to vote for in a particular election. Based on the individual state laws, the electoral college will be assigned to the Presidential candidates. For example, a state law can assign all the electoral college vote to the winner irrespective of whether it is a landslide or a marginal win while another state can assign the electoral college based on proportion of vote share won by each candidate. 48 states in the US have laws that assign all electoral college to the winner of the plurality of the statewide popular vote whereas Maine and Nebraska assign 2 electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote in the state and the balance based on the plurality of votes to the winner of their congressional districts. The election for the President takes place once in 4 years and the same person can hold office only for 2 terms under the US Constitution. He must be at least 35 years old, an American born US Citizen (not a naturalized citizen), and must have lived in the US for at least 14 years. So far, the Presidential elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 produced an electoral college winner who did not receive the most votes in the generation election. As you may be aware, in 2000, Florida was a battleground state in which George W. Bush won the seat by 400 votes statewide against the Vice President Al Gore. This 2000 election was contested in the courts because of the narrow margin and finally the Supreme Court gave a verdict declaring George W. Bush as the winner. 2016 election was not contested in the court as Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton conceded within 24 hours after the election results were announced. As you know, 2020 election was contested by Donald Trump, the President of the US despite both electoral colleges win as well as popular vote was in favor of Joe Biden. A group of people entered the Congress building to stop counting electoral colleges, attacked Capitol Police, and destroyed government assets. A case is pending against then President Donald Trump in the District of Columbia even though this case has been pending for a while. In the meantime, Supreme Court has given a decision that the President is immune from prosecution, if he had made decisions in his official capacity as the President. In this election, States such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are closely contested and anyone who wins majority of this battleground states will be the winner. There are a total of 538 electoral votes across the US and they are allocated among the states based on the Congressional seats and senate seats each state possesses. As most of you may already know, there are 2 senate seats assigned to each state totaling up to 100 senate seats for 50 states and 438 congressional seats assigned to states based on the electoral votes available in each state. Senate seats are to balance the decisions of the Congress so that every state will have a say in the decisions as opposed to states with most population dominating the decisions in the Congress. The House of Representatives are elected from each congressional district and serve for a period of 2 years at a time can be elected any number of times. Senators are elected once in 6 years, and they must get reelected once in 6 years. 1/3rd of the senators is elected every 2 years. To win an election and become the President of the US, a candidate should get at least 270 electoral college votes (one above the mid-point of 269). 93 electoral colleges are assigned to the above 7 battleground states, and one must win most of these states to become the President of the US. In some states, majority of the population are always voting for Democratic or Republican party sending their candidates to senate or house. Even though their electoral college votes are important for the Presidential candidate, they spent most of their effort, money and time in the battleground states so that they can tilt the election in their favor. Earlier, only the rich people contributed to the election funds deciding which party must be in power based on their requirements. Now there is a big momentum among the middle class to contribute to the election funds and these funds constitute the majority as most citizens participate in making a smaller contribution resulting in matching the contribution from the rich. Both parties prefer that as they don’t have to lean towards the rich and meet their requirements when the contribution is from the public. There are political action committees (“PAC”) which are controlled by billionaires which don’t give control over their funds to the political parties and use their funds to support policies of their preferences. More to come on the powers of the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary, what is known as Bill of Rights, how new laws are passed, how the Judiciary members are selected and how the political parties elect the candidates through nomination process. Note: I request the Americans to kindly point out any errors in the article so that I can stand corrected to give the right opinion to those who likes to understand the US election process.
The composition of voters by race is changing dramatically in the US which is one of the reasons, the election results are so dependent on which race supports which Presidential candidate? Here is a recorded change: In 2000 White: 76% Hispanic: 7% Black: 12% Asians: 2% Others: 2% In 2010 White: 72% Hispanic: 10% Black: 12% Asian: 4% Others: 2% In 2020 White: 67% Hispanic: 13% Black: 13% Asian: 4% Others: 3% As you can see from the statistics above, Hispanic population is growing faster than most other categories and mostly Blacks vote in favor of Democratic party since Obama contested the election and after that when Trump won the election, he moved so far away to support White nationalists resulting in Blacks strengthening Black Lives Matter to the levels that existed during civil rights movement. Even though strong immigration policies are supported by most Americans, the Hispanic population may have a lenient view towards illegal immigration supporting the border crossing in the South. Historically, Black votes are increasing at the same proportion as the White population making no change to the composition of the voters. Most Asian immigrants are legal immigrants barring a few that are trying to come to the US through illegal border crossing in recent days. The major factors that are influencing this Presidential election are: 1) Illegal immigration 2) Women's right to abortion 3) Inflation control and economic growth 4) America First policy to increase domestic production 5) Climate change 6) Regulations 7) Deficit and Debt 8) Foreign policies 9) Taxes & Tariffs
The US Constitution Article II establishes the Executive Branch and gives the President a variety of executive powers, including: Enforcing laws - The President is responsible for enforcing laws created by Congress. Appointing officials - The President appoints the heads of executive departments, independent commissions, federal judges, and ambassadors. Conducting foreign affairs - The President has the power to negotiate and sign treaties, and to deploy American forces abroad. Veto power - The President can veto bills passed by Congress, but Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both houses. Executive clemency - The President has the power to pardon, commute sentences, and grant amnesty. Recess appointments - The President can make appointments when the Senate is not in session, but these appointments are not subject to Senate approval until the end of the session. The President also has the power to initiate legislation, issue decrees, initiate constitutional amendments, and declare states of emergency. Before he enters on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the Oath or Affirmation that is unique for the President of the United States. The President-elect is usually sworn in by the Chief Justice of the U.S.Supreme Court, but not always. The Presidential Oath is as follows: "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same: that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." He can form his cabinet by selection people of his choice but all of them need to go through an approval process in the Senate. Whenever, a judicial position is vacant at federal level, the President will nominate someone for vacant positions. The Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life and whenever a seat is vacant due to someone passing away or retiring due to poor health, the President will nominate a successor which must be approved by the Senate. The President is also the Commander in Chief of the military consist of all forces including space force. He also has what is called nuclear football always in person wherever he goes with him that can give command to activate nuclear weapons.
The Powers of the Congress: Article I - the longest article of the Constitution, describes congresssion powers. Congress has the power to - 1) Make laws 2) Declare war 3) Raise and provide public money and oversee its proper expenditure 4) Impeach and try federal officers 5) Approve treaties negotiated by the executive branch 6) Oversight and investigations 7) Taxes: Congress can lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises 8) Debt: Congress can pay debts and borrow money 9) Commerce: Congress can regulate commerce with foreign nations, among states, and with Indian tribes 10) Naturalization: Congress can establish a uniform rule of naturalization 11) Bankruptcy: Congress can establish uniform laws of bankruptcy 12) Currency: Congress can coin money, regulate its value, and fix the standard of weights and measures 13) Counterfeiting: Congress can pubish counterfeiting of securities and current coins 14) Intellectual property: Congress can grant patents to inventors and copyrights to authors 15) Courts: Congress can establish federal courts 16) Military: Congress can raise and support armies and provide and maintain navy 17) Militia: Congress can call militia to put down rebellion and invasion, enforce laws, and help organize, arm, and discipline in militia 18) District of Columbia: Congress can exercise control over the District of Columbia and other federal property. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Congress is divided into two institutions: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The two houses of Congress have equal but unique roles in the federal government. While they share legislative responsibilities, each house also has special constitutional duties and powers. To balance the interests of both the small and large states, the Framers of the Constitution divided the power of Congress between the two houses. Every state has an equal voice in the Senate, while representation in the House of Representatives is based on the size of each state’s population.
The Constituion establishes the federal judiciary in Article III, which states that the judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court and other inferior courts. Congress decides how to organize the lower federal courts. The Powers of Judiciary: Applying laws - The judicial branch applies laws to individual cases and decides how they should be applied. Resolving disputes - The judicial branch settles legal disputes and hears appeals from state and federal courts. Protecting rights - The judicial branch protects individual rights granted by the state constitution. Punishing violators - The judicial branch punishes those who violate the law. Acting as a check - The judicial branch acts as a check on the legislative and executive branches of government.
Bill of rights is amendments made to the Constitution by the founding fathers of the US. The amendments will have to be approved by the House, Senate, the President of the United States and by th legislators of all the states in the US. It is a tedious process that include many rules. For example, the Congress debates are restricted by the Rules of the Committe and Senate has unlimited right to debate the amendment unless a procedure of Cloture is brought in by a Senator. Similarly, each State will have its own rules and guidelines to review the amendments. Here are the 27 amendments passed so far: Amendment 1 Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly Amendment 2 Right to bear arms Amendment 3 Quartering of soldiers Amendment 4 Search and arrest Amendment 5 Rights in criminal cases Amendment 6 Right to a fair trial Amendment 7 Rights in civil cases Amendment 8 Bail, fines, punishment Amendment 9 Rights retained by the People Amendment 10 States' rights Amendment 11 Lawsuits against states Amendment 12 Presidential elections Amendment 13 Abolition of slavery Amendment 14 Civil rights Amendment 15 Black suffrage Amendment 16 Income taxes Amendment 17 Senatorial elections Amendment 18 Prohibition of liquor Amendment 19 Women's suffrage Amendment 20 Terms of office Amendment 21 Repeal of Prohibition Amendment 22 Term Limits for the Presidency Amendment 23 Washington, D.C., suffrage Amendment 24 Abolition of poll taxes Amendment 25 Presidential succession Amendment 26 18-year-old suffrage Amendment 27 Congressional pay raises One can read details of each amendment if they choose the Amendment # and google it.
Any Representative or Senator can introduce a Bill in the Congress for approval by other members of the Congress. Both the House of Representatives and Senate have their own committees to review various Bills and with the consent of the speaker of the House, it will be presented in the House of Representatives. The Vice President is the head of Senate and has the right to cast the tie-breaking votes, if necessary. For a bill to pass in the House or Senate, it should have the majority of the members of the House or Senate respectively should approve the Bill to become Law. After that it is presented to the President to sign and he has a veto power to reject the Bill and refuse to sign it into law. However, both House and Senate can remove the veto power by 2/3rd majority. Both House and Senate decide which proposals will requires a simple majority and which proposal requires 2/3rd majority. However, some of the rights of the Congress requires 2/3rd majority by the Constitution of the United States. For example, both President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump were impeached in the House but the Senate will have to get 2/3rd majority to impeach the President as the Executive and both times Senate did not have 67 votes required to give effect to the impeachment process.
As I mentioned earlier, Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the President to the highest court. The Supreme Court Justices are appointed for life and they get to serve the Supreme Court until their death or until they get incapacitated to function as a Justice due to serious health condition. Even then, the Justice himself/herselt is expected to leave the office. The Supreme Court Justices can be impeached by the Congress for wrong doing or violation of law like the President of the United States. But in a divided congress, it is impossible to impeach either a President or Supreme Court Justices. In the recent past, we have seen a situation where 3 conservative Justices were appointed in a single term by the President Donald Trump. Until then, the Supreme Court is always divided equally with the Chief Justice finally deciding the casting vote in favor of a decision. There are several examples of 5-4 decision including declaring George W. Bush as the winner of 2000 Presidential election. During President Obama's term, a vacancy arised to fill in and he nominated Judge Merrick B. Garland as a nominee to the Supreme Court. But the Republican majority in the Senate decided not to allow the nomination to be tabled in the Senate as it was the last year of service of the President Obama. Soon after Trump became a President, this vacancy was filled by nomination Justice Neil Gorsuch. Another vacancy came during the Presidency of Trump (because one Justice retired voluntarily) and that was filled by nominating Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Towards of the end of the Presidency of Trump during lame duck session, a Justice died due to poor health and the Republican majority in the Senate quickly moved to fill in the vacancy within 30 days by nominating Justice Amy Coney Barrett. There was another vacancy that happened during President Biden's term and it was filled in by nominating the first Black woman Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. In general, the Justices interpret the law as per the Constitution despite their affiliation with the policies of a specific political party. However, 3 of the Justices nominated during Trump presidency despite answering in the Senate that they would not reverse Roe Vs Wade decision, decided to make a new judgment reversing this decision. Following this, many states passed legislation banning abortion for pregnancy beyond 6 weeks. It caused serious problem for many women as they knew about their pregnancy after 6 weeks in most cases. They ended up traveling to another state to carry out abortion if abortion is banned in their state. In some states, the doctors who attend to pregnant women were to be arrested if they give them medical attention, if there is premature termination of pregnacy voluntary or involuntary. In most states, there were no exceptions given for rape or incest. This is one of the top issues in this election among women voters.
Even though protection democracy is projected as a major issue by Democratic party in this election, many Americans are not concerned about this issue because the US Constitution has many protection to prevent changing the Democracy to Dictatorship. Even though House is controled by Republicans now, it is not clear how anyone can scrap the Constitution and became a dictator on day one. At best the President can cancel all legal cases against him, pardon those who were prosecuted in J6 cases and take over Department of Justice to run under his control. But for any other actions, he needs to go to Congress consist of both the House and the Senate and getting majority votes will be an uphill tasks to do something against the Constitution.
Each party has its own process to nominated candidacy for the Presidency. Nomination process (called Presidential Primaries) begins very early at least a year before the actual election. Some states like Iowa and New Hamshire begin the process early and set a trend. Other states follow this process. General public are allowed to register themselves affiliated to either party or remain independent. Those who attend these statewide Presidential Primaries are called delegates. The superdelegates are high-ranking officials who have yet to pledge their support to any candidate before they attend the national convention. In the Republican Party, for instance, superdelegates include the three members of each state's national committee and have represented less than 5 percent of the party's total delegates in 2020. In the Democratic Party, superdelegates represent 15% of overall delegates. They are members of the national committee, all members of congress and governors, former presidents and vice presidents, former leaders of the Senate and the House, and former chairs of the Democratic National Committee. In the Republican party to win the nomination, a candidate should at least get 1,277 out of 2,552 delegates and in the Democratic Party to win the nomination, a candidate needs at least 2,376 out of 4,750 delegates. A peculiar situation happened in the year 2024. Joe Biden won majority of the votes in the Democratic Party but did so badly in the first Presidential debate and hence the leaders of Democratic Party wanted him to step down as the nominee as in their opinion, he has very little chance to win the election. After almost 30 days of resistence, he finally decided to step down as a nominee and suggested that his Vice President should be the nominee. The Democratic Party agreed and nominated Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee. All of the delegates were asked to switch their vote to Kamala Harris and some argued since she was part of the ticket as Vice President, she need not win the delegates again. The bottomline is, Vice President Kamala Harris was nominated in the Convention of the Democratic Party without her going through the primaries. Note: This completes everything I promised to write about. Please feel free to comment or ask a question and I will answer to the best of my abilities. I request all Americans to address any question others can ask.
