Differences in the election system of the US and India

Recently the elections for the United States finished and Joe Biden has become the 46th US President. However, the present US President Donald Trump is yet to concede. It took many days for the counting of votes in the US. Compared to India, the US has only one-fourth of India’s population who had cast their votes in the election.

Many Indians wondered why it took so much time to declare the results in the US compared to India which takes a few hours or a day for it.

India is the second-most populous country in the world. It is the largest democratic country in the world. The election and voting system of India are different from the US.

Here are the main differences in election system between both countries:

In India even though many parties operate on the state level, only a few parties operate on the national level. While India has many political parties, the US has two dominant parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Some other minor parties are there, but they cannot compete with the above two.

In India, voting is conducted on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) on the day of polling. Voters visit the polling booths to cast their vote in the prescribed time. The government declares a holiday on the polling day so that every voter can cast their vote. Only a few people cast their votes using the postal ballot method. Overseas electors use e-ballots. Whereas in the US, the voting system is flexible. Multiple methods are allowed for voters like a postal ballot, absentee voting through the mail, and voting at polling booths. Besides, they can use the early voting method as well. The US uses ballot voting compared to India, which uses EVMs.

Recent US elections witnessed a voter turnout of 61.8% compared to 66.8% in India. In India, people of all age groups participate in voting with interest. In the US, people aged above 65 years cast 25% more than that of the young people aged between 18 and 24.

Each state in the US has its own date for starting voting, the deadline for receiving the mail-in ballots, and processing the ballots. Processing the ballots involves verifying document and signatures and scanning the ballots which is a complex process. That’s why the counting process consumes a lot of time.

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