WASHINGTON: In the much thrilling prospect, 161.42 million voters in the United States of America (USA) are eager to exercise their suffrage.
Apart from presidential elections, the polls at national, state, and local level will also take place on November 5. In every state, the vote casts on different times. However, people can cast their vote in-person by visiting polling stations in all states and Washington D.C. on November 5. Some states offer ‘early voting’ facility, one can cast his vote in September in few states.
In the United States, the security of votes relies on officials who involved in electoral process. They record the voting process, count votes and report them. The voters also play an important role in ensuring transparency in the process.
There is no central election committee in the United States. Every state counts votes in national elections as local and state officials provide election results in real-time which are then combined with popular and electoral votes. Although all the states follow principles, yet the details of enforcement of these principles among states vary.
First of all, there is much difficulty in auditing the elections in the US due to the secrecy of ballot, as no one can contact a voter to verify that their votes have casted and recorded correctly. So, through the audit, it can be checked if the system has counted votes correctly.
This can be done manually through paper ballot or for electronic system, through ‘Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trails.’ According to the state law, a set of ballots is randomly selected, counted, and checked to see if the result matches the recorded total. Otherwise, the rules suggest a recount for the accuracy of the selected set of ballots.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the practice of mail-in voting was adopted widely. This method compelled voters to mark their ballots in accordance with their wish and then mail the paper ballot to the election centre or deliver it in-person to a voting centre or polling station. The election officials check the signature on the envelope, then remove and count the ballot.
The one basic issue with this method is that someone might be coerced into voting a certain way, irrespective of how they want to vote. In contrast, the voters cast their ballots privately at the polling station, making it much harder to force them. Additionally, the votes are as secure as the US mail (or voting centres).
After casting votes, they are verified at both local and state levels. Then, each state declares the winning candidate as the elector in the documented form. These electors are usually people, chosen by the winning party or appointed by political officials. Audits and signature checks are examples of the measures that make the entire electoral process as foolproof as possible. The individual voter is the key to this entire process. It merits mention that if you don’t cast your vote, it is ensureed that your vote will not be counted.
According to the US media, news agencies use statistical techniques to project the likely winner of the election before all the votes are counted. They do so because the states’ power to count and sending votes through mail can cause delay. So, they consider incomplete results sufficient to determine the winner.However, if the competition is very close, news agencies may wait for the final results before projecting the winner
Moreover, officials may not declare a formal winner immediately, especially in closely contested elections or when mail-in and early votes take longer to count.
The final results are announced after the voting time is over. In the final stage, electors from each state gather in December to cast their votes for president and vice president. In January, the new Congress counts the electoral votes and officially announces the winner. The inauguration of the new president takes place on January 20.
