The election of the oldest democracy in the world is a watershed moment every 4 years. It is watched keenly by every nook and corner of the globe. This is because quite literally, a choice of the US president has a bearing on every nook and corner of the globe.    

This article however desires to focus on the domestic aspect. Elections in a democracy are the most vital part of the democratic process and it is an exercise of the true sovereigns of the country, the people. This transition of power is meant to be peaceful and more importantly, simple. But does this hold for the US presidential elections? Let us take a look. 

The electoral process of the US president is a bit complicated. In theory, the US is a multi-party democracy, but as is the case with most mature democracies, in practice it remains a two-party system. These parties to decide their nominees for the post of President hold primaries and caucuses. These primaries and caucuses are processes where the potential nominees aim to win over delegates. These delegates come in handy at the National Convention where they gather to decide the nominee for their respective party. 

Even though this might not seem that complicated, there are a lot of intricacies involved. The delegates differ from state to state depending on the population. There are also type of primaries, they might be closed, open, or semi-closed. It dictates who can vote for whom, for example in a semi-closed primary an independent voter (not registered with any particular party) can vote, but it is closed for the registered voters of the other party. This makes it difficult for a layman to understand the inner workings of the process, and deters people's participation. In presidential elections also, the voters elect candidates who have pledged their vote for their party’s nominee, the eventual president. 

This is supported by hard facts on the ground. Primaries have been seeing a decline in recent years. In 2016 even the voter turnout for the presidential election was low. Previous record numbers were seen for the 2008 elections where the turnout was close to 58%. The turnout for the primaries tends to be low as compared to the presidential elections, due to obvious reasons. 

A heartening statistic here, however, is that the voter turnout for the 2020 election was the highest in recent decades with an estimated 67% of the electorate turning out to vote. Voter turnout for young people was also quite high in 2020, with some reports suggesting that it might have helped Biden to the White House. On the other hand, however, the US ranks quite lower than other developed countries with respect to voter turnouts. A Pew research study estimates that The USA ranks 31 out of 35 countries amongst the Organization for Economic Development (OECD). 

Apart from the complex nature of the elections deterring healthy participation, there is also a long-standing debate that may it be any party in Washington, they are essentially cut from the same cloth. Republicans and Democrats have been sharing the space since time immemorial, and over the years they do not differ much on fundamentals, especially on foreign policy, their controversial military complex, etc. This is not to say that they do not view things differently, but are similar in their outlook of the American state. A quote by whistleblower and one of the top enemies of the United States Edward Snowden reinforces the point; 

The eventual shunting out of Bernie Sanders who had quite radical views is also a testament that there is little space for ideas and people who do not engage in mainstream politics. A complicated scenario leaves us with impending 

BBC news. (March 2020). US election 2020: What are primaries and caucuses and how do they work? Retrieved from 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51273719

Statista. (December 2020). Voter Turnout Rate in the presidential election in the US. Retrieved from 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1184621/presidential-election-voter-turnout-rate-state/

Desilver Drew. (November 2020). In past elections, the U.S. trailed most developed countries in voter turnout. Retrieved from 

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/11/03/in-past-elections-u-s-trailed-most-developed-countries-in-voter-turnout/

Statista. (November 2020). The voter turnout rate in presidential primary elections in the United States in 2020. Retrieved from 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1102189/voter-turnout-us-presidential-primaries-state/

Noor Poppy. (November 2020). Surge in youth voter turnout may have helped propel Biden to victory. Retrieved from 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/09/youth-turnout-us-election-biden-victory-young-voters

Edward Snowden. (May 2021). Retrieved from 

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1394061037968805889

The circus of Democracy in the USA

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