2024 US presidential election

YOU may be reading about US politics, presidential elections, current president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump. US President is elected every four years for a four-year term and a person can be president only for two terms. 

The election in 2024 is very unique in many respects. I migrated to the US in 1973 and became a US citizen in 1979. I have been active in politics for many years, was a member of the State Committee for one of the parties and attended party conventions and presidential inauguration dinners. I was close with Mayors, US Senators, Members of the House of Representatives and a State Governor. 

I am not involved in politics and now registered as an Independent. We can register to vote here as an Independent, Democrat or Republican. The reason why the 2024 election is unique is based on my experience in politics and current observations.

Two of the many uniqueness of the 2024 elections are that both candidates are 77 or above and both were once the US President or we say, incumbents. Joe Biden is the current president who defeated Donald Trump in 2020, who was US President from 2017 January till 2021 January. Whoever gets elected in November 2024 will become the new US President in January 2025. 

US elections are conducted on the first Tuesday of November other than November 1. Every November there is an election for State Governor, State Legislation and Senators for a 6-year term and US Member of the House of Representatives (Congressman or Congresswoman) with a two-year term. 

In 2024, aside from the presidential election, there are elections for all 435 members of the US House of Representatives, one-third out of the total 100 senators (33), and many State Governors and legislators. 

Before the general election, there is a primary election to elect the candidates for each party. This process started in February 2024. Each state conducts elections separately and ends by June. The primary elections determine the candidates except for the president. 

For presidential candidates, the State Primary elects delegates representing each candidate based on the percentage of votes the candidate received. Each state and each party has different rules to select the delegates, some winner takes all, some based on the percentage and some based on congressional districts. 

Both parties during their annual convention elect the party candidates through the vote of the majority delegates. The Republican Party convention is from July 15-18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin State, and the Democratic Party convention is from August 19-22 in Chicago, Illinois. 

Republicans have a total of 2429 delegates and Democrats 3933 delegates. The uniqueness of 2024 is that, since both candidates are incumbents, they do not have big challenges in the primary and it is already confirmed that Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the candidates who ran against each other in 2020. Unusually, same candidates run consecutively.

Usually, the final campaign is during September and October after the summer vacations in July and August. This year, the general election campaign has already started since both candidates have no major opposition in the party in the primaries and annual conventions have become just processes. Some small third-party candidates are running for president including the son of former presidential candidate and President John F. Kennedy’s brother Robert Kennedy’s son. He is expected to get 5 to 8 per cent vote. 

Presidential elections are not determined by popular vote, but rather by the Electoral College.  The Electoral College consists of 538 electors; in each State, the total number of electors means the number of Congressional districts plus the two Senators from each State. The total number of electors is 538, 438 (435 plus 3 for the District of Columbia, which is not a State) Congressional delegation plus 100 Senators. 

The candidates who win the majority in a State win all the electors, who are named by the party before the election. To win, the candidates must get 270 electors. They name States with sure Republican majority as Red States, the States with Democratic majority Blue States and Swing States as Purple. 

The Electoral College officially meets on the Wednesday after the first Tuesday in December and votes for the President and Vice President. Each State’s electoral votes are counted on the 6th of January in the year following the general election. The members of the House and Senate in a joint meeting under the Chair of the Vice President count and certify the election. 

You know what happened on January 6, 2021 when Donald Trump, who was the president and also a candidate for president for a second term officially, lost the Electoral College and tried to stop this certification process.

Joseph Biden, the current president, is the Democratic candidate again in 2024 for a second term and his vice president will be Mrs. Kamala Harris, whose mother is a Brahmin from Tamil Nadu. Donald Trump, president from 2017 to 2020, lost to Biden in 2020 and is running for his second term in 2024. He will choose a new vice presidential running mate this time.

Because candidates for both major parties are already known, the election campaign unofficially started before the Party Conventions. As I have written, it is going to be a very unique election between two candidates who are previous presidents, above 77 years old, candidacies already determined 8 months before the election and both are not the favorites. 

In the US democracy, there is a clear separation of power between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches. The President or Governor of a State or Mayor of a City is the Chief Executive, who is directly elected and then the legislative bodies, Senate and House of Representatives, in the States Senate and Assembly and CitiThe es the Council. There are also three levels of courts - Federal Courts, State Courts and City Courts. 

US President has a lot of executive power in Defense and Foreign Policy. The president is the commander in Chief and defines the foreign policy. Budget and rules have to be passed by both houses of legislation, which shall be signed by the Chief Executive. 

The Chief Executive nominates his/her cabinet, which should be approved by the upper house or the Senate. Also, the President nominates judges to the Federal District, Appellate and Supreme Courts to be approved by the Senate. 

The US President is perhaps the most powerful elected Chief Executive of a country.