November 3 is the 2020 U.S. Election Day. Presidential elections, congressional elections, and multiple state and local elections are held on the same day, and the most concerned is undoubtedly the Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, and the Republican presidential candidate, current President Donald Trump. Scramble.
Why “swing states” are important
The U.S. presidential election adopts the “Electoral College” system, which is composed of 538 electors representing 50 states and the capital, Washington, DC. The number of electoral votes varies from place to place.
Except for Maine and Nebraska, other regions implement the “winner-takes-all” rule, that is, the candidate who wins the most voters gets all the electoral votes in the region. Candidates who obtain more than half of the electoral votes (270 or more) can be elected president.
According to this system, even if it gains a universal vote in the United States, it may not ultimately win the election. Therefore, the results of the “swing state” elections with stalemate approval ratings for candidates from both parties are crucial.
In the 2016 presidential election, Trump fell behind in popular votes, but relied on winning a majority of “swing states”.
In the 2020 presidential election, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin are widely regarded as the “swing states” that influence the election results.
Why mailed ballots attract attention
The presidential election voting is mainly divided into two forms: on-site voting and mail voting. Affected by Coronavirus Pandemic, in this presidential election, voters who voted by mail increased significantly. According to statistics on the “American Election Plan” website, more than 96 million voters have voted in advance, of which more than 61 million voted by mail.
Compared with on-site voting, the post-voting process is more complicated and takes longer, which may delay the announcement of the election results.
Why elections are difficult to bridge the tear in American society
In the context of the economic recession, the three major factors of the Coronavirus Pandemic
racial discrimination, and political polarization are intertwined, causing frequent chaos in American society during the election year.
The government’s ineffective prevention and control has led to the continued raging of Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States. The week before the election day was the “worst week” since the outbreak in the United States.
The number of new cases in a single day has repeatedly reached new highs. The cumulative number of confirmed cases has exceeded 9.28 million and more than 230,000 deaths.
Under the Coronavirus Pandemic, the long-standing systemic racial discrimination problem in the United States has become more acute. Protests in many places have been going on for several months, and ethnic opposition and social tearing have intensified.
In recent years, the political polarization in the United States has become increasingly acute
party struggles have intensified, and mutual “checks and balances” have become mutual “vetoes.”
Political polarization exacerbates social tearing, which in turn affects political polarization, and the American people become the biggest victims.
