All eyes now set on White House

The heat of presidential election in the United States of America has just begun with the announcement of presidential candidates by the Republicans while Hillary Clinton, immediate past Secretary of State under President Obama, announced her candidacy in Iowa on April 12.  All prospective presidential candidates generally prefer to declare their candidacy in Iowa because presidential poll begins early in that state. Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul declared his candidacy from his state, Kentucky, while Senator Marco Rubio, another Republican, from Florida State on April 13. By now, Senator Ted Cruz of the Republican and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin declared themselves as candidates in the presidential race. Another former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush, younger brother of former President George W. Bush, and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey are likely to announce their candidacy. As of now, former Senator Jim Webb of the Democratic Party has declared his candidacy for presidency. He is from Virginia state. He is a best-selling author, screenwriter and former Secretary of the Navy.
The next presidential election will take place on November 08, 2016 while incumbent President Barack Obama will quit the White House before January 20, 2017 after completing two terms of presidency. The incumbent President is barred from contesting for the third term as per the Constitution of the United States. The next President will take oath of office on January 20, 2017.  
Democracy flourishes in the US. Its beauty is that all the candidates are facing critical path in the primary contests in different parts of the country. The presidential debate for  primaries will start in August, 2015 while the selection process will begin in January, 2016. The dates are being finalised by each state and by the Republican and Democratic national committees. The Iowa caucus leads the way, followed by New Hampshire and South Carolina. Having completed debates around the country, which are conducted generally by electronic media personalities, candidates would face parties' national conventions.  
After series of speeches and demonstrations in support of each candidate, the final selection is made by delegates selected by each state to contest the presidential election in the national convention of political parties. The 2016 Republican convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio which holds 18 electoral votes. Ohio is described as a swing state in presidential election. It is very interesting to note that the President is elected by electoral votes, not by majority votes. However, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are elected by popular vortes after every two years.
 As soon as the selection of presidential candidates is finalised from the Republican and the Democratic parties, they will face three rounds of debates to be conducted by electronic media personalities.
 The US President is not elected by popular votes but by an electoral college. According to Article II of the Constitution, "each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in the Congress. The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify……..to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate who is Vice-President of the United States of America".
The electoral college consists of 538 electors representing 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 Senators, and three for the District of Columbia. The focus generally is concentrated on swing states in presidential election. Ten to 12 states are swing states. In view of controversy arising out of electoral votes, there have been debates to abolish the electoral college system.
The writer is retired diplomat from Bangladesh.
Email: amjad.21@gmail.com