He next November 5the United States will celebrate presidential elections to elect a new president: Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump. Elections that are expected to be very close and in which various groups of people and actors play a key role that, in an electoral system as consolidated and based on tradition as the American one, it is essential to know.
Voters
They are the United States citizensthe voters who will decide the next president by casting their vote in the ballot box on November 5. Those who meet the following criteria can vote in the United States elections: requirements:
- Have US citizenship
- ​Meet the residency requirements of each State
- Be 18 years old
- Be registered on the electoral roll of each State before the deadline for each territory.
On the other hand, people who do not have United States citizenship, even those who have a legal resident permit, cannot vote. Those convicted of a serious crime will not be able to do so in some states, as will those who suffer from a mental disability in certain states. Citizens of Puerto Rico and other associated states do not vote either.
Media
The media plays a key rolea function deeply rooted in the American electoral tradition: these are the ones who They “declare” the winner of the electionsa symbolic, but transcendental function.
With the delay in counting votes in such a large and complex country and the lack of a national agency that centralizes and counts votes in real time, the media They are responsible for preparing counts in real time with statistical models and data management to proclaim a winner before the public opinion.
The official certification It occurs days later, in the Electoral collegealthough the media have that tacit role of “declaring” a winner in a truthful and reliable way.
State Electoral Board
The Electoral Boards of each state supervise electoral processes of their respective territories. They are the institutions thatThey are responsible for voter registration, vote counting, and certification of electoral delegates. who participated in the federal Electoral College.
Electoral College and electoral delegates
The electoral delegates of each State form the Electoral College and meet in a joint session of Congress and Senate at the Capitol in Washington DC They are in charge of echoing the results in their State and transmitting which candidate the citizens of their territory support.. It is this body that officially elects the President of the United States after the elections.
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States at the time of the election also plays a key role in the American elections: the second in command of the White House He is also, according to law, president of the Senateand it is the responsible for presiding over the session of the Electoral College that determines the new president by counting the votes of the States, on January 6 following the elections.
In these elections there is the peculiarity that she will be the vice president Kamala Harris who presides over a session in which she can be named president, upon being a candidate in the elections.
Senators
They are the members of the United States Senate, they are appointed in elections and each state has two members. Senate elections They take place every two years and in them a third of the Chamber is renewedso the elections overlap with the presidential elections, although they are independent processes. Senators serve six-year terms.
Representatives
They are the members of the House of Representatives (like the Congress of Deputies in Spain). They are elected every two yearslike the Senators, but In this case, the entire Chamber is renewed: 435 members (the majority is 218). The seats are distributed based on the population of the States.
