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American voters are called to vote in around fifteen states to nominate the candidate of each party for the presidential election. Franceinfo summarizes for you the issues of this crucial voting day in the nomination race.
Who will be the Democratic candidate and who will be the Republican candidate for the American presidential election? “Super Tuesday” should give an overview of the duel which will be played in the fall in the United States. Voters from around fifteen states are called to participate in the primaries of the two parties during this key voting day of Tuesday March 5. How the vote will take place, the issues at stake in one camp or the other… Franceinfo explains everything you need to know about this traditional major electoral event.
A day of voting in 15 states
Like every four years, the most important meeting of the primaries for the presidential election falls on a Tuesday. In 2024, “Super Tuesday” will allow voters in fifteen states to nominate the candidate they prefer, both Democrats and conservatives. Polls will be held in Alabama, Alaska (Republican Party only), Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee , Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia.
On the Democratic side, American Samoa will also vote on Tuesday. The party will also announce the results of the Iowa caucuses on this date, recalls the political news site TheHill.com. In this Midwestern state, voting this year was held in two stages: in-person elections on January 15 and postal voting lasting two weeks.
Hundreds of delegates at stake
If the results of “Super Tuesday” are closely followed, it is also because of the number of delegates which will be allocated to the candidates during this voting day. To be designated as the candidate of his party, a candidate for the nomination must obtain a certain number of votes during the national conventions which will take place in July (for the Republicans) and in August (for the Democrats).
Among the Conservatives, the threshold to be reached this year is 1,215 votes. Some 854 delegates will be allocated on the day of “Super Tuesday” alone, or 36% of the total, reports The Washington Post. Democrats will award 1,420 delegates Tuesday of the 1,969 needed to be officially nominated as the candidate. A total of 3,936 votes will be distributed during the presidential party primaries.
No issue among the Democrats
In the United States, primaries generally present little suspense when an outgoing president is a candidate for his own succession. This year is no exception. “The choice of the Democratic Party was to leave with Joe Biden”, explains Ludivine Gilli, doctor of history. Facing him is Marianne Williamson, author of personal development books close to Oprah Winfrey, already a candidate in 2020, details the New York Times. Dean Phillips, a moderate Democrat from Minnesota who has served in the House of Representatives since 2018, also entered the race, in the hope that the party will choose a younger candidate.
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The advanced age of Joe Biden, who will be 81 at the time of the vote, has not prevented him from crushing the competition so far. The head of state won 95% of the votes in South Carolina and 80% in Michigan. “Super Tuesday” should therefore be a formality for the president, credited with 65 to 80% of voting intentions in the polls recorded by the specialized site FiveThirtyEight.
Little suspense among the Republicans
In the conservative camp too, the outcome of the primaries seems a foregone conclusion. The big favorite Donald Trump has only one opponent left in the running: Nikki Haley, moderate Republican and former governor of South Carolina. All the other candidates threw in the towel in the first weeks of the primaries, faced with the former president’s large victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Donald Trump’s lead over his rival is substantial: he came first in all the polls, except that in Washington, the capital. He already counted the votes of 244 delegates on Sunday March 3, against 43 for Nikki Haley, reports the AP agency. At the dawn of “Super Tuesday”, the billionaire is also credited with more than 75% of voting intentions, according to FiveThirtyEight.
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Former governor of South Carolina “has no realistic chance of reversing the trend”, estimates Françoise Coste, professor of American studies at Toulouse-Jean-Jaurès University. This succession of failures even cost him the support of his main donors, the Koch brothers. “If they threw in the towel, it’s because they understood that [la campagne de Nikki Haley] was a lost cause”underlines Françoise Coste.
So far, Donald Trump’s rival has refused to withdraw her candidacy, presenting herself as the last alternative to the former president. Is this a strategy to position itself as “Plan B” in the event of Donald Trump’s conviction in one of the multiple trials that await him between now and the presidential election in November? Or a way to gain notoriety to prepare for the next presidential election in 2028? Until then, Nikki Haley could resign herself to throwing in the towel this week, if the results of “Super Tuesday” confirm Donald Trump’s favorite status.