The long-awaited has arrived Super Tuesday. Tuesday March 5th 15 US states we will vote to elect the representatives Republicans and Democrats who will run in the presidential elections in November. The result, after the polls are closed, seems obvious: Joe Biden on one side and Donald Trump on the other, once again, they seem to have no rivals. But this does not make the appointment any less awaited, especially since on both sides there are some events that worry both candidates quite a bit.
Super Tuesday: what is it
Before the presidential election, the two major US parties, Democratic and Republican, choose their presidential candidates via primaries or caucuses. Each state votes, on different dates, for its favorite candidate of each party, but by tradition there is a date on which several states go to vote at the same time. It always happens on Tuesday, which for this reason, is defined Super Tuesday.
This is a relatively recent tradition that began in 1984, but which became official only four years later, when Southern states decided to combine their primaries on a single day to counter the so-called "Iowa syndrome”, defined in this way given the enormous importance that the small Midwestern state assumes during the vote, being the first state to go to the polls.
There is also another reason why Super Tuesday has gained importance: in just one day they elect 36% of the Republican delegates and 30% of the Democratic ones, which is why, precisely on this day, we begin to have a rather clear idea of who will be the candidate for President, who will then be nominated in the summer during the delegates' conventions with only one exception which occurred in the recent past: in 2008, when the Democrats faced each other Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Super Tuesday ended in a substantial draw.
Super Tuesday: where to vote and how it works
They are fifteen states will vote on this Super Tuesday: Alabama; Alaska (Republicans only); Arkansas; California; Colorado; Iowa (last day for Democratic voters to send in their absentee ballot); Maine; Massachusetts; Minnesota; North Carolina; Oklahoma; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Vermont and Virginia, to which is added the territory of American Samoa.
Voting methods and rules differ from state to state. In most only voters registered with parties they will be able to vote for their favorite candidate. However, in six states – Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota, Texas, Vermont and Virginia – even i not registered they will be able to cast their vote for their favorite Democratic or Republican candidate.
Finally, it should be considered that the states do not all have the same weight because they do not elect the same number of delegates. To give an example: it will be more important to win states like Texas, which alone awards 155 Republican delegates and 241 Democratic delegates.
Super Tuesday and Trump's legal troubles
Biden essentially has no rival, so the vote is considered closed. However, the situation is different in the Republican Party where the former president Donald Trump will have to deal with the former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, who won the Washington DC primaries yesterday. An obvious success and considered merely symbolic. It is therefore unlikely that Haley will actually be able to stand between the tycoon and his candidacy for the presidency. However, it could be the courts that do it. Precisely today, Monday 4 March, Trump will be on trial for the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 in Judge Tanya Chutkan's courtroom in Washington. A process that could create several problems for him. And he himself is aware of this given that he has appealed for immunity, claiming to have acted as "president of the United States".
Meanwhile, it has arrived the decision of the Federal Supreme Court which in record time (less than three months) issued its ruling regarding the appeal filed by Trump against the decision of the Colorado State Supreme Court which in December had ruled Trump's non-candidacy in the primaries of the State by virtue of the 14th amendment which prohibits officials involved in insurrections against the constitution from holding public office. Well, for the federal judges, the tycoon is eligible and will therefore be able to participate in the primaries. The ruling only concerns Colorado, but will most likely also be applied in Maine and Illionois, the other two states that had banned Trump from running for office. Both Colorado and Maine will vote tomorrow, as part of Super Tuesday.
(Last update at 17.22 on 4 March)
