Democrats begin ‘president’ Donald Trump election in peculiar mode

New York: The Democrats will kick-off their election process on Monday in the state of Iowa to pick their candidate to challenge President Donald Trump with a peculiar open balloting system, instead of the traditional secret vote.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-styled socialist, is ahead of the moderate former Vice President Joe Biden by 4 percent in the voter polls of Iowa Democrats, according to polls aggregator RealClear Politics. But his lead is at risk from the second preference vote built into the Iowa voting system. In the US election system, party members elect their party candidates rather than giving party bosses the sole authority to nominate the presidential challengers. There are two ways this is done - through a secret ballot in the system of primaries, and open voting in the caucus system. Iowa is one of the few states that follow the caucus system.

The registered party members will gather at 7 p.m. on Monday in designated places and instead of casting their ballots secretly, they will go and stand in areas designated for each candidate and another for the undecided.

After an initial count of the voters, those candidates getting less than 15 percent support will be eliminated and voters standing in the spots designated for them can move to those of their second preference.

At this time, voters can also go to supporters of other candidates and ask them to switch sides. The voters are then locked in place for a second count and the results are then announced.

The caucus system is criticized for lack of secrecy, which can make people vote in a certain way against their judgment because of peer pressure and because in elections for local offices the officials can identify who opposed them. The fixed time can also depress the voter turnout. (IANS)

Also Read: Donald Trump advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islander

Also Watch: NSUI unit in Guwahati demands immediate release of Youth Congress leaders