The way the United States formally elects its president on Monday is quite different from how most democracies in the world elect leaders.
In other democracies, heads of government are elected directly by the electorate, or the party that wins the most seats in the National Assembly is elected by a parliamentary body.
Some processes are complex and complicated, while others are very straightforward. Look at how some of those countries choose their leaders – and how problems can arise.
South Africa
In South Africa, where all ethnic elections have been held since 1994, citizens vote for political parties instead of candidates. The president is then elected by a vote of the National Assembly. The party that wins the most seats can elect its own leader as president. Since Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, the African National Congress and the Liberation Movement have become political parties. Dominated politics. However, in 2019, the ANC had its weakest victory, winning only 57% of the vote.
Poland
In Poland, after the fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe, its democracy was reborn in 1989, with the candidate becoming president with at least 50% of the vote. If no candidate gets at least 50% of the vote, those who get the first two votes in the second round will face each other. Re-elected in 2000, he was the only first-round winner to transform himself into a pro-democracy figure for former communist Alexander Kwasnevsky. Even Lek Welsa, the famous founder of Poland’s anti-communist solidarity movement, needed a second round of voting to become Poland’s first popularly elected president.
Spain
In Spain, the Congress of Representatives elects the Prime Minister. Even if it wins more seats, the party that loses the majority must form alliances with other parties to elect the country’s leader. In 1996, this led to a worse situation for him to be prime minister. As the votes were being counted, Jose Maria Aznar’s Conservative People’s Party thought it had won enough seats to become prime minister. Supporters marched outside the party headquarters in Madrid, aiming an ugly slogan at Catalonia, a Catalan-speaking autonomous region, toward Jordi Pujol, a minor politician. “Pujol, you speak dwarf, Spanish!” They chanted. They had to swallow those words a few hours later that Aznar needed the votes of Pujol’s coalition to easily win the election as prime minister. Conservatives humbly attract Fujolin’s alliance and give Catalonia even more autonomy.
United Kingdom
UK voters elect a legislator to their local constituency. Then, the party that wins the most in 650 constituencies usually wins, and the party leader becomes prime minister. A coalition government can be formed if any party wins a majority of seats. The winning party always won the largest share of the popular vote. It is rare for any party to win a majority of the popular vote as many parties are competing. Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won 44% of the vote in the 2019 election, but won 80 seats in parliament, allowing him to become prime minister.
Brazil
If the winner of the first round does not receive more than 50% of the vote, Brazil elects its president by direct election in two rounds. Voting is mandatory, which leads to a high turnout and a reasonable number of spoiled or empty votes. In 2018, the turnout was 80%. The penalty for failing to vote is less than a dollar.
South Korea
In a round, the president is directly elected by the people, in which the candidate with the most votes wins. A person must be at least 40 years old to be eligible to run. The country’s current president, Moon Jae-in, won the by-elections in May 2017, two months after the South Korean Constitutional Court fired its conservative predecessor Park Geun-hye over corruption allegations. He is now serving a prison sentence for abuse of power, bribery and other crimes.
Taiwan
A constitutional amendment in 1994 led to direct, popular elections for president. Previously, the office was indirectly filled by the then-ruling Nationalist Party-dominated National Assembly. The 1996 election was the first time Taiwan had elected its president by popular vote.
New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is elected by other legislators and is usually the leader of the party that receives the most votes in the election. Under New Zealand’s proportional representation system, parties often have to form alliances to dictate a majority in parliament. Although New Zealand is a fully independent and democratic nation, its head of state is Queen Elizabeth II of Britain. I.e. the Prime Minister must be officially approved by the Queen’s Representative in New Zealand, the Governor-General.
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AP Reporters Jill Lales in London; Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland; David Pillar in Rio de Janeiro; Kim Dong-hyun in Seoul, South Korea; And Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand contributed to this story. Follow Andrew Chelsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky