The United States, for some time, held the presidential elections this year. There were two strong candidates from each of the majority parties who felt disposed to compete for the presidency. They are Donald Trump from the Republican Party and Joe Biden from the Democratic Party.
From November 3, 2020, to Friday (6/11), there were 253 electoral votes recorded from Joe Biden in the first position compared to Donald Trump with only 214 electoral votes. Joe Biden has the upper hand in employing rules of the Electoral College system used in the US Presidential Election. This condition is because the former Delaware State Senator only needed 17 more votes to win a majority, precisely for 270 electoral votes.
This condition was even more obvious by looking at the vote count in Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral votes. According to the Decision Desk HQ on Saturday (7/11) morning, Biden has been legitimately accepted as the winner to lead the state. His vote has now reached 273 votes. Although the calculations have not been finalized in several other states, this difference range of votes cannot be overtaken.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's camp has filed a lawsuit in three states because he assumed he was cheated on the vote count. Although two of the three states have been rejected, Trump is now filing an appeal to the Supreme Court.
As UGM International Relationship's lecturer, Dr. Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro, explained that the US's election process is different from Indonesia. The vote count is not calculated individually but from the electoral votes. At the same time, the number of electoral votes is different for each state. So if a candidate excels in the vote count in a state, he automatically wins the electoral votes in that particular state.
Rachmat assessed that the US Presidential Elections latest results would bring fresh air to world foreign policy, including Indonesia. He said that during Trump's tenure, the US had caused controversy, friction, and tension in various countries, including Southeast Asia. Accordingly, to fix these relations, the US needs a new leader in the White House.
When comparing the two candidates' figures, Rachmat said there were marked differences when looking at the two's actions and campaign speeches so far. Trump represents the US's proud face on the one hand and shows a strong conviction to reduce its involvement in world affairs on the other. Meanwhile, it seems that Biden tends to be easier to negotiate. However, he still puts the US's interests first but pays attention to regional countries' interests, including Indonesia.
"Based on this condition, it is quite clear that our country will probably get the benefits if Biden wins. Mainly, we consider this condition to be the value of cooperation between various countries in the world to win the war against Covid-19 as it is today," he concluded.
Author: Hakam
Photo: berita24.bisnis.com
Translator: Natasa A