Wednesday, November 05, 2008 Nalzaro: US elections By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
SOME 130 million voters in the United States will troop to polling precincts today to vote for their preferred candidate in a highly contested presidential election.
Late yesterday afternoon, Democratic Party bet Barack Obama led by a slight margin over his rival, Republican candidate John McCain, in surveys conducted by media outlets.
Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, has Jose Biden, a six-term senator from Delaware, as running mate. McCain, a veteran Arizona senator, has Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as vice president.
The US election is done through block voting, or a vote for the president is a vote for the vice president. Independent bet Bob Bar has a slim chance of winning, as majority of voters choose a candidate endorsed by the two major parties.
Obama or McCain could become the first president born outside of continental US. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii while McCain was born in Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, a US Naval Base. Obama, who has a white mother and a Kenyan father, will be the first black or biracial US president if he wins.
But the presidential elections won’t be decided only by the general electorate because a second round of voting will be done by the Electoral College. US presidents are not elected directly by the people but by a group of citizens known as electors. This group of electors composes the Electoral College.
Each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the number of its senators plus the number of its House representatives. Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are prohibited from serving as electors so as to maintain the balance between the legislative and executive branches.
Whichever slate wins the popular votes in the state gets to snag that state's electors. In effect, whichever presidential ticket has the most number of votes in a state wins all the electors of the state. The Electoral College will vote in mid-December. The winner will assume power in January.
Because Obama is leading over McCain, one question has been asked: Is America ready for a black president? That question will be answered today.
We just hope that whoever wins will not introduce drastic changes in US foreign policy, especially towards allied nations like the Philippines. The point is that we are still dependent on the US, especially in the matter of external security and foreign loans.
