Topics Covered: Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.
How is the American President elected?
Who can become the President of the United States of America (USA)?
A candidate should be:
- A natural-born citizen of the United States.
- A resident of the United States for 14 years.
- At least 35 years old.
Who can vote?
The US President and Vice President are not elected directly by the people. Instead, they are chosen by “electors” through a process called the “Electoral College”.
How does the electoral college work?
The number of electors from each state is roughly in line with the size of its population. Each state gets as many electors as it has lawmakers in the US Congress (representatives in the House and senators).
- There are 538 electors in total.
- Each elector represents one electoral vote, and a candidate needs to gain a majority of the votes – 270 or more – to win the presidency.
What happens if no candidate gets a majority?
The House of Representatives, the lower house of US lawmakers, will then vote to elect the president.
- This has happened only once, when in 1824 four candidates split the electoral vote, denying any one of them a majority.
- With two parties dominating the US system, this is unlikely to happen today.
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Differences between Presidential and Parliamentary form of government.
- How is the US President elected?
- Differences between Presidents of India and the US.
Sources: the Hindu.
