An illustration of student-teacher collaborative discussion model in the subject of Media & Current Affairs during the Fall session 2020, Students engaged in the discussion on US General Elections 2020
4. OUTLOOK
ïThe Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and current U.S. senator from
California Kamala Harris defeated the Republican ticket of president Donald Trump and vice
president Mike Pence.
ïTrump became the first U.S. president since 1992 and the eleventh holder in the country's history
to lose a bid for a second term, and Biden won the largest share of the popular vote against an
incumbent since 1932.
ïThe election saw the highest voter turnout since 1900, with each of the two main tickets receiving
more than 74 million votes, surpassing Barack Obama's record of 69.5 million votes from 2008.
ïBiden and Harris received more than 81 million votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a
U.S. presidential election.
5. PROCEDURE
ïArticle Two of the United States Constitution states that for a person to serve as president, the
individual must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and have been a
United States resident for at least 14 years. Candidates for the presidency typically seek the
nomination of one of the various political parties of the United States.
ïThe presidential nominee typically chooses a vice presidential running mate to form that party's
ticket, which is then ratified by the delegates at the party's convention.
ïThe general election in November is also an indirect election, in which voters cast ballots for a
slate of members of the Electoral College; these electors then directly elect the president and vice
president.
ïIf no candidate receives the minimum 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, the United
States House of Representatives will select the president from the three candidates who received
the most electoral votes, and the United States Senate will select the vice president from the
candidates who received the two highest totals.
6. CONTROVERSY
EARLY-VOTING:
ïThe process of early voting was introduced for Americans living outside the country and for the
members of the military, merchant marine, and their families. American citizens have a varied
option to vote early. Ballots, mail, fax, email and even on web portals. But since the beginning of
the 2020 election cycle and the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, mail-in voting has suddenly
become a subject of controversy.
MAIL-IN VOTING:
ïAmericans have been voting by mail in the U.S. For close to a hundred years now, but it has never
been an issue as it in the 2020 election. And there are two reasons for this.
ïThe numbers of voters who vote early has increased in recent years and with the pandemic casting
a shadow over the presidential polls, the democrats have pushed for citizens to vote by mail. With
the election day inching closer, the early voter turnout is breaking records almost every day. In the
2016 presidential election, approximately 33 million votes were cast via mailed out ballots. Which
makes for about a quarter of all ballots cast across the country.
ïAnd 2020 is witnessing a staggering increase in the early voter turnout, even in states which didnât
usually use mail-in voting.
7. CONTINUEâŠ
ïThe second reason for the mail-in ballot voting becoming an issue is the president of the United
States Donald Trump. Trump and his team have repeatedly been claiming that the widespread mail-
in voting will inevitably lead to "Fraudâ. They're very little evidence for that. But despite trump's
unsubstantiated claims, the number people running out to voter early is historic this year. With a
highly polarized election inching towards its end, all hopes lie on the vote count & result
announcement.
8. TWEETSBYDONALDTRUMP
ïTwitter on Sunday placed a "public interest notice" on a tweet sent by President Donald Trump
earlier in the day that claimed without evidence that "Mail Drop Boxes" for ballots would lead to
voter fraud and carry a risk of coronavirus transmission.
ï"So now the Democrats are using Mail Drop Boxes, which are a voter security disaster," President
Donald Trump tweeted just after 7 a.m. Sunday. "Among other things, they make it possible for a
person to vote multiple times.
ï"Also, who controls them, are they placed in Republican or Democrat areas?' he continued. "They
are not Covid sanitized. A big fraud!â
ïSome other tweets are pasted on the next slide.