US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2012
Americans
will go to the polls on Tuesday, November 6 to elect a new President or give
incumbent, Barack Obama a second four-year term. Already, the battle is seem to
be concentrated on the Democratic and Republican front.
President Obama and his running mate,
Joe Biden will fly the Democratic ticket, while
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will front for the Republicans with the sole intent
of un-sitting the democrats.
Of
course, other candidates like Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill
Stein of the Green Party as well as Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party and
the Justice Party`s Rocky Anderson will equally square up with Obama and
Romney.
Prior to
this stage of the contest, all the candidates especially Obama and Romney, spent
over a billion dollars in campaigns, to convince U.S. voters that they each
possess the right credential to be America`s 45th President.
As stipulated in the Constitution, this year`s
presidential election coincides with the United States Senate elections
where one-third of the Senators will face re-election (33 Class I seats), and
the United States House of
Representatives elections (which occurs biennially) to
elect the members for the 113th Congress. Eleven gubernatorial elections
and many elections for state legislatures will also take
place at the same time.
To emerge
victorious in the polls, the favoured candidate MUST secure 270 electoral
collage votes from a total of 538 votes.
The
system which dates back to the administration of George Washington, requires
each state to send a number of delegates to the college, based on its
population. For example, any candidate that is able to win states like Florida,
California has 55, Texas 38 while Florida commands a major junk of the vote.
The key
point about the system is that the winner of the popular vote in each state
takes all of the delegation’s votes at the Electoral College, irrespective of
the margin.
The
stakes are high.… the die is cast……, despite the disruptions posed by Hurricane
Sandy, Americans and indeed the entire world anxiously await the outcome of the
Presidential election of the world`s Policeman!
THE ELECTION TIME TABLE
- (Tomorrow) Tuesday, November 6, 2012 – Election Day
- December 17, 2012 – Electoral College will formally elect a President and Vice President.
- January 3, 2013 – The new Congress is sworn in.
- January 6, 2013 – Electoral votes are formally counted before a joint session of Congress.
- January 20, 2013 – Inauguration oaths are taken; the new presidential term starts.
- January 21, 2013 – Inauguration Day (as the 20th falls on a Sunday)
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