From the news, everyone already knows when the new president of America will be elected. The date had been discussed in advance for a long time. The new president will be elected for a 4-year term as usual. Since Barack Obama has already held this post twice, he cannot act as a declared representative in the elections. The exact date of the 2016 US presidential elections is already known. The country must elect the 45th leader of the country. This event will occur on November 8, 2016.

Process structure

Americans conduct elections a little differently compared to other countries. The whole secret lies in the two-level scheme of the process itself. At the first level, voting is conducted to select the top applicants from each state. The group of electors can include a certain number of applicants equal to the number of state employees in the main chambers.

Only Colombia, although not represented in the country's Congress, can still delegate its main representatives to the group of participants. While all preparations are underway for the upcoming vote, are people worried about when the US presidential elections will take place in 2016? Thanks to the media, everyone already knows the answer to this question.

The group of electors includes more than 500 people. The 2016 US presidential election depends on these people. The date when the candidates will count the results has already been set - November 8. If more than half of the electors vote for one candidate, he will win. On the day of choosing a president, they mainly vote for the lists of electors. Because it could happen that the presidential candidate who received fewer votes took the oath. This unpleasant situation happened 16 years ago.

Preparing for the main event

There is still a lot of time before the next leader of the country is chosen, but all the announced participants have already been evaluated. But every day something changes, and obvious leaders can suddenly lose their ratings or drop out altogether. The race of announced participants for leadership in the country will be watched by the whole world. For a long time now, everyone has known when the 2016 presidential elections in the United States are and which candidates have been appointed to this position. Serious politicians, for some reason, refuse to participate in the race, based on the fact that such an important step in their lives needs to be carefully considered.

Who submits their candidacies?

The announced candidates come from a variety of parties. Those who are close to any policy vote for it.

The candidate from the Democratic Party is a woman - Hillary Clinton. It was she who became the first lady and worked as secretary of state for several years. Clinton even managed to compete with Barack Obama, who now supports her in every possible way.

But the current president has already tarnished his name over his long service, so the fact that he supports Clinton is not considered an authority. Now many politicians are trying not to have anything in common with him, and Clinton is staying away from him, although he accepts support.

But this candidate very often has health problems. It happened that Clinton even fainted. It will not be difficult for her to raise the necessary funds, much less withstand the 2016 presidential elections in the United States, the date of which is already known. When Clinton's recognition rating skyrocketed compared to other candidates, she stopped being afraid of everything.

She is supported by the entire Kennedy family, and their opinion is the most influential in the party. If she is elected, it will be a sensation; there has never been a female president. But for now Clinton can relax, because Democratic Party, which she represents, has no rivals yet.

The 2016 US presidential election will be held very soon, and the date when it will be possible to see who is in the lead is being set. To date good rating has Vice President Joseph Biden. Unfortunately, or fortunately, this candidate refused to participate in the elections. But Biden has the right to change his mind and return to the leadership race at any time. Until he's gone, Clinton has nothing to fear.

Kerry, who served as Secretary of State, also refused to go to the polls. He generally stated that he wants to leave politics at the end of Obama's presidency. All other candidates fall far short of Clinton, which means they cannot compete.

In the Republican Party, things are a little different. Here everyone has a chance to win. There will be many contenders from this batch.

Every state that has chosen the democratic path has its own national characteristics elections to government bodies, reflecting national character, history and traditions of the country. this indicator has no equal in the world. It is impossible for an unaccustomed person to figure out how the president is elected in the United States the first time. A multi-stage voting procedure, primaries, swing states... And this whole battle takes place in the format of a real reality show, capturing the attention of television viewers.

Where to start to become President of the United States?

According to the constitution, any citizen who has reached the age of 35, was born in the country and has lived here for at least 14 years can become president.

You can be nominated by any party, or you can go to the polls on your own, as an independent candidate.

But the practice of recent centuries shows that the real battle is between two parties - the Republican and the Democratic. It is the representative of one of these two monsters that determines the fate of the country in the next four years.

To prevent long periods of power from turning a person’s head, activity as the leader of the country is limited to two terms. According to the founding fathers of the United States, one person remaining in power for more than 8 years can lead to dictatorship and the curtailment of all freedoms.

Presidential elections in the United States are a multi-stage procedure. On average it lasts one and a half years. Moreover, active discussion of possible candidates begins a year before the start of the race, so when asked how often a president is elected in the United States, we can say that this is a continuous process. The procedure can be divided into several stages: nomination of candidates, primaries and caucuses (that is, primary elections), approval of a representative from the party at the national convention and the elections themselves.

Primary

So, in any case, either a Democrat or a Republican becomes president. Who decides which party members should go to the polls? Given the great degree of responsibility, a system of primaries is provided here - preliminary voting to determine the candidate from the Republicans and Democrats. This is very important point to understand how the US electoral system works.

Each state has its own procedure for conducting primary elections and voting methods. But the essence remains the same - delegates are elected who, at the final congress, will determine who will represent the party in the presidential elections in the United States.

There may be situations where there may be defectors from one camp to another. But this is an extremely rare case, and such an incident arises only when no candidate has managed to secure a majority of delegates.

There is such a curious day as “Super Tuesday”. On the first Tuesday in February, primary elections are held in many states.

The primaries are a very exciting spectacle; they take place from February to June of the year in which the elections are held. Americans follow their intermediate results, just like football fans in Europe follow the national championship standings.

When does the most important thing begin?

The timing of presidential elections in the United States has remained unchanged for the third century. As befits a decent Anglo-Saxon country, they treat laws and traditions with great respect and do not change anything unless absolutely necessary. The first Tuesday in November is the day when the US presidential elections will take place in 2020, 2024, and so on ad infinitum every four years. This was established in 1845 and continues to this day.

Why Tuesday? It's all about the farmers. The USA in the 19th century was an agricultural country. The majority of voters represented the country's agricultural regions. The journey to the polling station and back took from one to two days. And on Sunday it was necessary to go to church. So they chose the most convenient day of the week to visit the temple and elect the president.

Electors

Citizens European countries and Russia has become accustomed to the sacred formula: the principle of direct, equal and secret voting. The US electoral system is structured slightly differently. this does not include the principle of direct voting. Citizens choose delegates - electors, who, in turn, choose the leader of the country.

In addition to the first person of the state, US citizens also receive a vice president, who goes with him in the same harness. They are the only persons in the country who are elected at the federal level, that is, they represent the interests of the entire country, and not of any specific state.

Composition of the board

It is impossible to understand how the president is elected in the United States without understanding the method used to determine the Electoral College. A voter comes to the polling station and, by voting for his candidate, thereby casts votes for his team of representatives. Then these delegates, through a formal vote, confirm the election of the president.

The most authoritative representatives of each state are usually appointed to the team of electors. These could be congressmen, senators, or simply respected people.

Each state nominates a number of electors proportional to the number of people entitled to vote and living in it. The following formula applies - as many electors as there are elected deputies from the state to Congress plus 2 people.

For example, nai large quantity California could represent delegates in 2016 - 55 people. The smallest are sparsely populated states such as Utah, Alaska and some others - 3 people each. In total, the board consists of 538 people. To win, 270 electoral votes are needed.

A look into the history of government

It is difficult for a citizen of unitary, centralized states to understand why the Americans have complicated their election scheme so much. The thing is that initially the United States was not a single country with a tough

The very name United States (literally “United States”) suggests that it was a union of equal states. Only the most difficult questions they provided the authority of the federal authorities in Washington - the army, currency regulation, foreign policy. All other internal affairs were handled exclusively by local authorities.

Until now, for example, there is no single body governing the police force. The police of each state reports directly to regional authorities and is independent of the capital.

The meaning of the scheme with electors

Each state values ​​its rights. Therefore, in such an important issue, a system was developed in which the president was elected by representatives from each subject of the federation, and not by a simple arithmetic majority. After all, otherwise large states like California or New York could simply impose their will on all other states due to their larger population. And so, only if there is support throughout the country, the candidate will be able to become a national leader.

That is, the essence of this scheme is to support the principle of federalism of the United States.

Controversy surrounding the electoral system

With such a system, some paradoxes are possible. A challenger who receives more popular votes than his opponent can easily lose to him due to fewer electors.

The reason is this. It is already clear, in general, how the president is elected in the United States. The scheme is that he is appointed by an electoral college drawn from all the states.

The highlight of the system is that the principle applies: all or nothing. It doesn't matter whether a candidate wins, say, California by 99% to 1%, or wins by a single vote. In any case, he gets the entire quota of electors assigned to this state (in this case - 55 people).

That is, the overwhelming majority of voters in the largest regions (California, New York) can vote for the Democratic candidate and thereby provide him with an arithmetic advantage of votes throughout the country. But if there is no support in other states, there is no victory. Thus, to some extent the principle of the equivalence of one vote is violated. A voter somewhere in Utah or Alaska “weighs” more than in California or New York.

Debates about the need for reforms have been going on for a long time, but given the traditional conservatism of Americans in the field of laws, changes will have to wait a long time.

The reason Trump won the 2016 election

This is what happened in the recent US elections. Voted for Clinton more people. But the majority was secured due to the overwhelming majority of Democrats in those states where traditionally all the electors go to them. Trump's victory was that he was able to win in states where voters had not yet clearly decided on their preferences.

There are several swing states where there is no clear preference for Democrats or Republicans. Three or four large ones are important. In turn, the most key of them is Florida, which delegated 27 electors. Almost always the winner in Florida becomes the president of the country. In other words, the whole point of the election campaign is to secure an advantage in three or four states out of 50!

This is what Donald Trump did. He neglected the struggle in California and New York, which were hopeless for him, and concentrated all his power exactly where it was needed.

Historical incidents

Today it is clear how the president is elected in the United States. But at the dawn of statehood, difficult questions also arose.

If there is a tie in the electoral votes, the President is elected by the House of Representatives. This is how Jefferson in 1800 and Adams in 1824 were elected. This rule still exists today, but in practice it does not come to this, since the struggle is only between two real contenders. Although, considering even number electors, this option is theoretically possible.

Technical details, timing

So, the national elections have taken place, the Electoral College has been determined. The delegates, without traveling outside their states, assemble in December, on a day fixed by the constitution. A formal voting procedure takes place. A protocol is drawn up and sent to Congress, where a special commission confirms the voting results.

After confirmation by Congress and the Senate, Donald Trump will officially assume his duties as president in early 2017. According to the constitution, the inauguration ceremony should take place on January 20.

It is quite difficult to understand how the president is elected in the United States. To do this, it is necessary to turn to the history of the country, understand its traditions, and the mentality of the people. The US presidential election is an exciting and interesting show, regardless of a person's political preferences.

The current election campaign in the United States claims to be the most interesting and shocking. The 2016 elections, which started out as very boring and predictable, suddenly turned into an enchanting show for everyone.
According to the plan of the “scripters” of the current elections, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton were supposed to reach the finals. And at first everything went smoothly. But the bright, assertive and expressive Donald Trump burst into the quiet swamp of the American establishment. Against the background of his extraordinary talent as a public speaker, all the stars of the Republican Party turned out to be small dim dots. One after another, seasoned politicians dropped out of the election race, and the protege of the Bush clan, Jeb Bush, turned out to be the main outsider of the Republicans.

The Democrats also began to have an intrigue. Unexpectedly, the socialist Bernie Sanders, who was put on the list purely nominally - for the appearance of competition, gained enormous popularity among members of the Democratic Party, almost catching up with Hillary Clinton in the rating. The media even leaked facts of rigging the results of the primaries in some states in favor of Clinton. But judging by the lack of reaction to this even from Sanders, his entry into the finals of the election was in no way planned. Which confirms the theory that there is a clear election plan and the next US President has already been agreed upon.
An equally interesting nuance of this election campaign is that the two candidates, Trump and Clinton, were joined by a third, Vladimir Putin. Not in the literal sense of course. But the attitude towards Russia in general, and towards Putin in particular, has become one of the most important arguments in favor of one candidate or another. It got to the point that Putin was accused of direct interference in the elections. It’s nonsense, of course, but articles on this topic are published in all seriousness in the most reputable American publishing houses.
And as you know, if a person talks about the same thing for a long time, then he reflexively begins to think this way. American society is clearly and openly being zombified, instilling in the minds of ordinary people the image of Russia as an enemy of the entire civilized world, an enemy who must be given a tough rebuff, and, if possible, completely destroyed.

The protege of this war party is Hillary Clinton, who in the current elections has become the mouthpiece of forces eager for open confrontation with Moscow. This is precisely the group that is consistently implementing the plan to divide Russia into several ethnic states, deprived of the opportunity to pursue an independent policy. The goal of these actions is to destroy their main enemy in the political arena, coming very close to undivided domination of the planet. The next stage will be to carry out similar actions with China. After the collapse of these most powerful states, the United States will be able to complete the plan for building a New World Order - a world order in which all natural resources, agricultural land and production capacity will be divided among several American clans.

And everything would be smooth, if not Clinton, then Bush, it doesn’t matter who will carry out the policy, the President of the United States is just a tool with which commands are issued. The main thing is in whose hands this tool is. But then Donald Trump burst into the political arena - very bright and controversial person. A billionaire, the owner of a casino, the Miss Universe contest, the host of his own TV show - this person in no way fits into the image of an American politician, and it is even more difficult to imagine him as the president of the country.
Despite his shocking behavior, Trump is proposing a sound agenda. Firstly, he is against US intervention in all international disputes; accordingly, the share of US funding for the NATO army should be significantly reduced. Secondly, Trump considers it necessary to prohibit American companies from placing their production in third countries. Thus, hundreds of thousands of jobs will return to the country. Thirdly, in his opinion, it is necessary to tighten migration policy, limiting the entry into the United States of unreliable elements from Latin America, Middle East and other problem regions. And finally, fourthly (most important for us), Trump advocates improving relations with Russia and recognizing Crimea Russian territory and lifting sanctions.

In the US, Trump is accused of populism. In my opinion, his program has nothing to do with trying to please the crowd in any way. On the contrary, these are completely reasonable arguments aimed at improving the economic situation within the country (the US national debt has reached an astronomical figure of $18 trillion!) and normalizing relations with other countries. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, is more likely to engage in populism, having saddled herself with the theme of the “Russian threat” and built her program on the confrontation between Russia and America. But she is presented as a balanced and predictable politician.
It is unpredictability that Trump is accused of. What's unpredictable about it? In reality, Trump is not unpredictable, he is inconvenient. Those in power in the United States are completely unsure that Trump will unquestioningly carry out their will (unlike Clinton) and they do not intend to take risks. The US electoral system is designed in such a cunning way that the candidate for whom a minority of voters vote can become president. After all, in the United States there is no direct election of the president; he is elected by an electoral college, which is created according to a complex formula for proportional representation of states. Not even every employee of the Russian election commission can understand how this board is composed, but for an ordinary American voter it is a complete cosmos.
The creators of the indirect US presidential election system themselves justified its need by the so-called “protection from the crowd.” In their opinion, the choice of the majority of citizens does not always benefit the state, so there must be a body that corrects the opinion of the people. This body is the Electoral College, which will ultimately vote for the “right” candidate. This is American-style democracy.

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Election system in the States it is quite complex and confusing, and sometimes completely incomprehensible even to the Americans themselves, not to mention Russian-speaking immigrants. Today our task is to figure out how the US President is elected and how votes are counted.

Let's start with the basic requirements for candidates running for the presidency of the country.

Primary requirements

According to the US Constitution, a citizen of the country of age can become president from 35 years old, born and lived on its territory for at least the last 14 years. The President is elected once every 4 years and may be re-elected for a second term.

Have you ever wondered why presidential elections in America always take place exactly on Tuesday, following the first Monday in November? The tradition of Tuesday elections has been followed since 1845. If you dig deep into history, the choice of day will become completely clear. Saturday was considered a working day, Sunday was given to God by attending church, and Wednesday was market day. That's how Tuesday became voting day.

The US presidential election is taking place on 3 levels:

• federal (national),

• at the state level

• and locally.

Together with the president of the country, over 18 thousand leading officials are elected - from the vice president to the sheriffs of rural communities.

The country has a two-stage election system. This has happened historically, since the founding of the United States as independent state in 1789 and to this day, the elections of the president and vice president are indirect, multi-stage in nature and take place in several stages.

First stage

The primary elections for US Presidential candidates take place from February 1 to June 31. primaries(organized and paid for by the government, lasts all day) and caucuses(caucuses last several hours and are paid from the party budget), during which Americans determine candidates- a Republican and a Democrat, who will fight for the presidency.

Second phase

Carrying out national conventions. This is the name given to the national conventions of Democrats and Republicans, during which the leadership of the parties approves 2 competing candidates (one from each) for the main election race.

The third - main - stage

Such an intricate system is rooted in the history of the formation of independent America, when the question of centralized management of the young state arose.

Being opponents of the monarchical system of government, the founders of the new state were also skeptical about the system of direct democracy, because the population density in the states was heterogeneous and each had its own legislative system. In order to prevent ochlocracy in the unification of state-states, it was decided:

• First the population determines electors from the most authoritative and worthy people of his state, who will constitute the Electoral College.

• Then these electors (each state has its own number of persons representing the opinion of the people) express the will of their fellow countrymen in the presidential election and cast their vote for the candidate whom the state chose with a majority of votes.

Fourth stage

The Electoral College enters the arena. Each state has its own number of electoral votes, proportional to the number of voters. The larger the state's population, the more electoral votes it has: for example, California has 55, Florida has 29. The total number of electoral colleges is 538 people. To win the election, a presidential candidate only needs to get 270 votes.

So, the residents of the state made their choice by casting votes for their favorite candidate and determining the list of electors for his party. How will their votes be distributed next? All states except Maine and Nebraska follow the winner-take-all principle. This means that the “president + vice-president” pair that receives the majority of popular votes in a particular state will ultimately receive all the electoral votes from that state. That is, if the residents of the state cast their votes for the Republicans, then the Republican electors will choose the president, and the Democrats will remain out of office and vice versa.

How worthy electors are selected in a particular state

Most often, electors are chosen at state party conferences. Thirty-six states follow this practice. In another 10 states, electors are determined by committees of state party organizations, proposing their list from each party.

Who can apply for the position of elector:

• prominent state officials;

• party activists;

• famous personalities who maintain relationships with any of the candidates.

Who is not eligible to be an elector:

• persons serving in executive authorities;

• persons holding positions related to the distribution of property;

• persons who took part in rebellion or rebellion against their country.

The Electoral College must choose the country's new president independently and objectively.

According to the results of the 2016 elections, the electoral votes were distributed as follows:

Republican received 290 electoral votes; Democrat Hillary Clinton - 228 electoral votes.

Wherein for Clinton More voters nationwide voted (60 839 922), how for Trump (60,265,858). (Data as of 23.34 on November 12, 2016.) However, Republican Trump won the electoral votes, his victory giving the Republican Party the opportunity to take the majority of seats in the US Parliament (Congress).

The final election results are certified by both houses of Congress. After this, the new US President is inaugurated.

Our entire story about the complex US electoral system can be presented in a visual step-by-step guide.

US electoral system | How to become president updated: July 6, 2018 by: Tatiana Sinkevich

In the near future, US Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller may present his final report on the case of “Russian interference.” During the investigation, which has been going on for almost two years, no evidence has been presented of Donald Trump's ties to Russia. The American media, which previously groundlessly accused Moscow of interfering in the US presidential election, are already preparing justifications for a future report. RT correspondent Caleb Maupin provides details.

• Russia needs to develop a set of measures in case the United States tries to disconnect the state from the Internet, experts interviewed by RT believe. They noted that Washington has an extensive arsenal of tools and can take such a step. Earlier, American media reported that Cyber ​​Command Armed Forces USA conducted a successful offensive operation against Russia last fall. Its target was allegedly the St. Petersburg Internet Research Agency. According to the commander of the American cyber forces, General Paul Nakasone, his structure intends to conduct active operations on the “virtual territory of the enemy.” Analysts believe that the United States will not stop at a one-time action against Russian citizens. RT found out whether Americans will be able to turn off the Internet in our country and how to protect themselves from this.

  US President Donald Trump was able to maintain the support of the Americans, despite the shutdown and the decision to introduce a state of emergency for the implementation of the project to build a wall on the border with Mexico. This is evidenced by the results of surveys conducted by American sociological services. At the end of 2018, the work of the head of state was approved by residents of 17 states, while the overall rating of the president increased compared to 2017. American analysts call the construction of border barriers a “key argument” that should increase the incumbent president’s chances of re-election in 2020. Experts interviewed by RT emphasized that ending the shutdown rehabilitated Trump in the eyes of voters, but his initiative is unlikely to solve the problem of illegal migration.

  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has announced his intention to run for President of the United States in 2020. In 2016, he lost to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. It later turned out that Democrats and the mainstream media actively promoted Clinton and did everything possible to prevent Sanders from winning the internal party elections. Read more about what a socialist can expect in the new presidential race from RT correspondent Caleb Maupin.

  Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe has published a book about alleged Russian interference in the US elections and that in 2017 the intelligence agency, together with the Department of Justice, planned to force the resignation of Donald Trump by invoking the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution. In an interview with CBS, McCabe said that the head of the White House did not believe American intelligence, which claimed that the DPRK was capable of launching a missile attack on the United States, since Vladimir Putin allegedly assured Trump of the opposite. However, McCabe's words are at odds with reality, and the report of the US Department of Justice inspector general states that the former deputy head of the FBI repeatedly lied under oath. RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev provides details.

  Sixteen American states have filed a class action lawsuit against Donald Trump and members of his administration. The authorities of the subjects accuse the US President of exceeding his powers due to the decision to introduce a state of emergency on the border with Mexico in order to obtain funds for the construction of a border wall, bypassing the decision of Congress. This is not the first lawsuit of this kind brought against the head of the White House for Last year, as Trump's immigration policies have become a point of contention for Democrats and Republicans. Experts' forecasts regarding the political prospects of the Trump team differ, but political scientists agree on one thing - the court verdict itself will have little effect on the situation.

  Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and three of her colleagues from the US Democratic Party have introduced a bill aimed at preventing Washington from withdrawing from the INF Treaty. In particular, the adoption of the document should prevent the allocation of budget funds for the construction of medium- and shorter-range missiles. Experts note that Democrats, who control the lower house of Congress, are theoretically able to limit funding. However, these plans may not come true due to opposition from lobbying groups, political scientists emphasize.

  Donald Trump plans to sign a decree declaring a national emergency in order to receive money for the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico. The president's Democratic opponents have already accused him of abuse of power, and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright compared the actions of the head of state with the policies of the fascists. As noted by the American media, most likely, most necessary funds will be withdrawn from the Pentagon budget, which could negatively affect the defense capabilities of the United States. According to experts, the plans of the head of the White House can change both the domestic and foreign policy of the United States. Meanwhile, analysts doubt that Trump's wall will appear before the end of his presidential term.