The states’ primary elections and presidential campaigns are heavily underway, gearing toward the presidential election on Nov. 5. The current frontrunners are Donald Trump from the Republican party and President Joe Biden from the Democratic party.
Candidates Marianne Williamson, from the Democratic party, and Republican Ron DeSantis as well as Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race for the presidency. Trump and Nikki Haley are left running for the Republican party with Biden and Dean Phillips as the Democratic candidates.
Since Trump’s term as president from 2016 to 2020, some states, such as Colorado and Maine, have refused to place Trump on the primary ballot after his involvement in the insurrection in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to PBS.org.
States can bar candidates from the primary ballot as described in section three of the constitution: a ban against those who have engaged in insurrection. These states await the Supreme Court’s ruling to see whether they can exercise this part of the Constitution. It is not yet clear whether Trump will actually be able to run for the 2024 election in these states.
At age 81, Biden is the oldest president in American history. Because of this, some on social media have criticized Biden’s abilities to lead the country.
“When asked whether he or other members of the Cabinet have considered invoking the 25th Amendment, which would trigger a process for the Cabinet to remove and replace the president, Mayorkas said, ‘Not at all,’” read an article by NBC.
Polls from 270toWin show the projected electoral map based on polls and one based on several different forecasters. Both maps show Trump winning the election by a small margin.
The swing states to be aware of during the election are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which “swung to Biden in 2020 from Trump in 2016,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Swing states are states that have relatively equal favor for the two main political parties. Candidates usually spend more of their time campaigning in these states because the results of the election in these places will be more uncertain. These states heavily influence the final decision as to who wins the presidency.
College students from out of state can either register to vote in the state where they are attending school or the state where they live. Jakob Miller, professor of political science, said if students are out of state during the election, they can participate in absentee voting depending on the state residency requirements, which is the easiest option for students..
“The easiest way (to vote as an absentee) is to use a service like TurboVote, which will give you custom instructions on how to register, request a ballot, and vote,” Miller said.
Students can register to vote or check their registration status at https://indianavoters.in.gov.
