We Talk About The American Presidential Election

THE election will be held on 3 November this year.

- Suzaan Hall

President Donald Trump is the Republican Party’s candidate, while Joe Biden is the Democratic Party’s candidate. Let’s take a closer look at the election.

How it usually works

The American constitution determines the date of the presidential election – it’s always on the first Tuesday of November.

On that day, Americans head to the polls. That means they queue up, then go into a voting booth to make a cross next to their chosen candidate on the ballot paper, and put the ballot paper into a ballot box.

Their vote is private and no one may see it before it goes into the ballot box.

Before the election

Allowance is also made for early votes (in other words, before the official election day). Each American state has its own laws regarding this, including whether it is allowed at all. In some states, early votes are allowed from 45 days before the election and end a few days before election day.

There’s also an option to vote by mail. That requires voters to register for the option to receive their ballot in the post, fill it out at home, then deposit it in a designated mailbox. This also happens before the official election day.

People who choose these options are usually those who won’t be in their home states (for example, Americans who are oversees) on election day, people who are having surgery on election day and people who work at the polls or on election campaigns.