At the federal level, it’s about Congress
The most important decisions fall to the two chambers of Congress. Voters choose 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate and all 435 representatives in the House of Representatives. Each of the 50 US states has two senators. Their term of office lasts six years – about a third of them are re-elected every two years. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, is completely reelected every two years. Here, the states appoint MPs according to their population.
Thousands more decisions are made across the states
In addition, there are thousands of other votes. New governors are being appointed in 36 states – the most powerful office in a state, comparable to a prime minister in Germany. Many states are also reassigning their own congresses and some other posts – down to sheriffs and school councils that can have a major impact on law enforcement or curriculum.
Voting is always on a Tuesday in November
Since 1845, elections have been held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In the heavily agricultural and religious United States of the 19th century, this day was chosen because two things could be ensured: on the one hand, sowing and harvesting were already over, while the harsh winter had not yet begun; on the other hand, no one had to make the long journey to a polling station on a Sunday service.
Today there is often criticism that election day is not a public holiday. Democrats in particular believe that this means that many of their supporters do not want to put up with the often long queues at the polling station.
Not all adult US citizens are entitled to vote
In the US, not everyone of a certain age can vote. Instead, those who want to vote must be entered in a register and also indicate whether they want to be listed as “Democrat”, “Republican” or “independent”. According to the census, 252 million Americans over the age of 18 were eligible to vote in the 2020 election, and 155 million made use of it – around 67 percent, a very high figure for the USA.
Source: dpa