US Elections 2024: How does America choose its President?

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For those accustomed to India's first-past-the-post general elections, the US Presidential Election is a confounding system that includes primaries, caucuses, an electoral college, the 'early voting' option, the 'battleground states' and the no federal Election Commission.

However, there is a fixed date for the US Elections 2024: the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November every fourth year, news agency PTI reported. And the race, most likely, has only two serious contenders, one from the Democratic Party and the other from the Republican Party. This time, Vice-President Kamala Harris (Democratic Party) will contest against former President Donald Trump (Republican Party).

The voters, however, don't just pick the candidate they want as the president. The ballot paper could include options to pick representatives to the state legislatures and local bodies, and voters could also be asked to participate in "referendums" on issues before the lawmakers in that particular state.

Citing the examples of some states, PTI said, legalising recreational marijuana is on the ballot papers in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota while Colorado wants to know if proceeds from a sales tax on guns should be spent to help victims of crime.

The US Elections are conducted by the state administrations conduct elections, owing to which, the processes vary. The opening and closing times at polling centres can also be different from state to state. Apart from this, depending on the state, people have mailed in their ballot papers or used drop boxes to cast their vote days before November 5.

According to PTI, in many states, a driving licence is about the only document the voter needs to produce before casting the ballot. Trump has called for a mandatory election ID card for all voters.

Candidate who secures a minimum of 270 votes becomes the next US President

The process for the US Elections 2024 begins months ahead of the final polling date. Parties pick their candidates through primaries and caucuses held across states.

Technically, voters do not choose the candidate they want to be the next president in US Elections 2024. They vote for presidential electors - a body of eminent people chosen earlier from each state. Broadly, each state gets a certain number of electors based on its representation in the US House and Senate.

However, it is not proportional representation. If Harris wins the popular vote in 'battleground' or swing state Pennsylvania, she wins the votes of all 19 electors from the state, even if there is space for some legalistic quibbling later on.

The presidential electors from Pennsylvania form part of the 538-member electoral college drawn from all states. The candidate who wins 270 or more votes nationwide is the next President.

Usually, the candidate who wins the electoral college vote has also won the majority of the popular vote. However, there have been exceptions: twice in the past six US presidential elections, the latest being in 2016 when Hillary Clinton, who had won the nationwide popular vote, was defeated by Trump.

Unlike the Indian electoral system, there is no cooling off period between the campaigning, polling, and the counting.

Several hours before centres opened for polling across the country, the tiny New Hampshire resort town of Dixville Notch finished with its own in-person voting, following a tradition that allows it to be the first.

At the stroke of midnight, its six voters began casting their ballots. Fifteen minutes later, the vote count was complete: a 3:3 split between Harris and Trump.

Within a couple of hours of polls closing in most states, counting trends could be available from at least some of the battleground states. These swing state, which can turn an election, are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

(With PTI inputs)