Full transcript
0:01the us presidential elections have
0:03become a spectacle for people
0:04in america and across the world every
0:07four years
0:08the american people choose their next
0:10president through a
0:12seemingly simple process but the truth
0:14is actually much more complex than it
0:16appears
0:17does the popular vote determine the
0:19president is it the electoral college
0:21that decides
0:22how is the president of the united
0:25states
0:26elected before a u.s president can be
0:28elected
0:29candidates need to go through a process
0:31that is referred to as the primary
0:33elections and
0:34caucuses the main difference between the
0:36primary elections and caucuses is that
0:38the latter
0:39is run by state parties meanwhile the
0:42former
0:42is controlled by state government in
0:45state primary elections
0:46voters cast their ballots much like in
0:49the general election
0:50in favor of who they wants to be the
0:52party's nominee
0:53who can vote in these primaries depends
0:55on whether it is an open or
0:57closed primary state in an open primary
1:00state
1:00both party voters and unaffiliated
1:03voters can cast their ballots
1:05in a closed primary state only those who
1:07are registered to the specific party
1:09are able to vote for a nominee in
1:12contrast with the primary process
1:14the caucuses occur quite differently
1:17state parties
1:18essentially hold meetings usually
1:20lasting a few hours
1:21and at the end take a vote amongst the
1:23attendees to see
1:25which potential nominee is preferred the
1:27primaries tend to attract a wider
1:30demographic of voters
1:31due to the less time-consuming structure
1:33and easier way of voting
1:35whereas the caucuses tend to only
1:37attract voters who are very strongly
1:39politically involved
1:41still some states choose a caucus over a
1:43state-funded primary because it allows
1:45the state party to pick their own voting
1:48date
1:48and general rules either way both the
1:51primaries and
1:52caucuses begin at the start of an
1:54election year
1:55and play a significant role in
1:58determining each party's nominee
2:00for the actual presidential race the
2:02results of the pre-election proceedings
2:04play a direct part in the decision that
2:06each party makes
2:08as to who will be their official
2:09candidate for
2:11the presidential race generally the
2:13number of votes that each candidate
2:15receives will decide the delegates that
2:17are chosen to attend the party's
2:18national convention
2:20at the national convention these
2:22delegates do a final
2:23formal vote to determine the party
2:25nominee
2:26the vote should ordinarily reflect the
2:29candidate who received the highest
2:30number of votes from the primaries and
2:33caucuses but if there was no clear
2:35winner from the earlier method then the
2:37delegates
2:38will pick the nominee themselves once
2:41both parties pick their nominees the
2:44real
2:44presidential race begins of course the
2:47democratic and republican parties are
2:49not the only political parties allowed
2:51to be involved in the united states
2:53elections
2:54but they are the two main parties
2:57and the minor parties such as the
2:59libertarian and green parties
3:01rarely have any relevance in american
3:03elections
3:05subsequently once nominees are chosen
3:07most of the country begins to decide
3:10whether they will vote in favor of the
3:12democrats or
3:13the republicans candidates will host
3:15rallies and other events
3:17make tv commercials and blaze the
3:19campaign trails during this time
3:22as the election draws near the
3:24democratic and republican candidates
3:25will also participate in a series of
3:28debates
3:28as will their vice presidential running
3:30mates whom they had
3:32chosen back at the national conventions
3:34these debates are televised
3:36nationally and give the american voters
3:38a chance to see both options answer
3:40hard questions about their politics and
3:42plans should they win the white house
3:45finally election day rolls around every
3:48four
3:49years on the tuesday after the first
3:51monday in november
3:53although many people wait to cast their
3:55ballots in person on this day
3:57numerous states have options for early
3:59voting
4:00whether it be in person or mail-in
4:03ballots
4:03so technically voting can begin a while
4:06before
4:06the actual election day and as
4:09demonstrated in the 2020 election
4:11ballot counting can last well beyond
4:13election night
4:14in terms of how voting works that is
4:17where things can get
4:18additionally complicated due to the
4:21electoral
4:22college many people are under the
4:24assumption that the candidate who wins
4:26the popular votes meaning the one who
4:28has the most ballots cast in support of
4:30them
4:31actually wins the election and becomes
4:33the next president of the united states
4:36while that seems like a valid assumption
4:38it is actually
4:40incorrect the popular vote does matter
4:42but really only
4:44to a certain extent a presidential
4:46candidate wins not through the votes of
4:48the people alone
4:49but through the accumulation of 270 or
4:53more
4:53electoral votes this is where the
4:56electoral college comes into play
4:58the electoral college is made up of a
5:01group of electors
5:02split amongst all 50 states and
5:05washington dc
5:06the number of electors that each state
5:08holds is determined by the number of
5:10members that state has in congress
5:13california for example has 55 electors
5:17whereas alaska only has three
5:20as for who becomes an elector the rules
5:22for those selections
5:24also vary by state furthermore the laws
5:27that determine how
5:28electors must vote also comes down to
5:30what state governments decide
5:32as the constitution fails to cover this
5:35in dc
5:36and 48 states all but nebraska and maine
5:40the electors must vote in favor of
5:42whoever wins the state's popular vote
5:44for that reason when the ballot tallying
5:47begins we will see
5:48each individual state counting their own
5:51ballots and determining whether their
5:53citizens went red
5:54or went blue this is why some states
5:57such as california again are referred to
6:00by
6:00many as a blue state it simply means
6:03that the popular vote in those states
6:05almost always if not always goes in the
6:08direction of the democratic party
6:11this process is also why many republican
6:13voters in predominantly democratic
6:15states and vice versa
6:17often feel that their votes do not count
6:20still the nationwide popular vote is
6:23counted
6:24even if it is more or less pointless
6:26because winning the popular vote will
6:28not give a candidate the presidency
6:30a perfect example of this came in 2016
6:33when hillary clinton won the popular
6:35vote around 66 million
6:37to around 63 million but donald trump
6:40beat her in the electoral vote which
6:42came to 304-227
6:45in the case that no candidate receives a
6:48majority of electoral votes
6:50the house of representatives would
6:52choose the next president while the
6:54senate
6:54would choose their vice president
6:56although this did happen in the 1800
6:58presidential election
7:00the 12th amendment had not yet been
7:02created which made the situation
7:04slightly different at that time the
7:07winner of the electoral votes would
7:08become president
7:09and the runner-up would be their vice
7:11president when thomas jefferson
7:13and aaron burr tied in 1800 it put
7:16all the power in the hands of the house
7:18of representatives
7:20seeing the flaw in their system the
7:21states decided to split the power
7:23between both sections of congress
7:25through the 12th amendment jumping back
7:28to the modern day election process
7:30it technically does not end after the
7:32events of election day
7:33even though due to the state laws we
7:36essentially know how the states and dc
7:38will cast their electoral votes it
7:40technically does not happen
7:42until mid-december additionally any
7:45recounts or
7:46court disputes concerning the results of
7:48the election at a state level
7:50must be resolved before the electors
7:52cast their official votes
7:54at the start of january congress comes
7:56together to count the electoral votes
7:58and assuming that one candidate reaches
8:01the minimum winning number of 270
8:03the president of the senate formally
8:05announces who will be
8:07the new president of the united states
8:10inauguration day
8:11then falls on january 20th via the
8:13constitution
8:14which specifies that a president's term
8:16begins at exactly noon
8:18on january 20th after each election the
8:21ceremony is presided over by the chief
8:23justice of the supreme court and is
8:26usually attended by any living
8:28former presidents as the outgoing
8:30president welcomes the president-elect
8:32into the white house before the latter
8:34takes his oath of office
8:35by 12 pm that day the united states
8:38officially has its new president aside
8:41from the lengthy process
8:43of becoming the u.s president there are
8:46also
8:46a few requirements that determine who
8:48can even run for
8:49office for one the president must be a
8:52natural-born
8:53u.s citizen a citizen alone will not
8:56qualify if they were not born in the
8:58united states
8:59a second requirement is the age of the
9:01president who must be a minimum of 35
9:04years old they also must be a resident
9:06of the united states for
9:08a minimum of 14 years these
9:10qualifications were laid out by the
9:12constitution
9:13back before george washington took
9:15office and remained the same
9:17over 200 years later although some minor
9:20details of the election process
9:22has changed over time as well as the
9:24ratifying of the 12th amendment
9:26the method of electing a u.s president
9:28has stayed fairly consistent
9:30due to its inclusion in the constitution
9:33the road to the white house has never
9:35been as simple
9:36as it appears to be at first glance to
9:38some but
9:39it serves as a thorough and effective
9:41process
9:42nonetheless currently there is some
9:44debate as to whether the electoral
9:46college should be reformed or even
9:48eradicated
9:49allowing the popular vote to directly
9:51elect each new president alone
9:53but since the existence of the electoral
9:55votes was established by the
9:57constitution
9:58another amendment would be required and
10:00more support for the idea would be
10:02needed
10:02still only time will tell what the
10:05future holds
10:06for how the u.s president is elected
10:22[Music]
10:24you