U.S. ballot begins

Press, 7 November 1984, Page 6

U.S. ballot begins

By MICHAEL RODDY, of the Associated Press (through NZPA) New York

Millions of Americans are going to the polls today to vote in the nation’s fiftieth Presidential election. Voters also are electing 33 members of the 100member Senate, all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 13 of the nation’s 50 governors, and a multitude of candidates for other local offices. The Census Bureau estimates that almost 174 million Americans are aged 18 or over, which gives them the right to vote. That is nearly 10 million more than in 1980, when 86.5 million people voted for President. How many people are registered and will cast ballots is unknown. In the last Presidential election 52.6 per cent ,of those eligible voted.

Registration and voting are not compulsory in the United States, although concerted efforts have been

made this year to attract new voters and increase registration, which lags behind other Western democracies.

Ronald Reagan; running for a second and what, under law, would be a final four-year term with his Vice-President, Mr George Bush, seeks to repeat or even better his electoral victory of four years ago. In 1980 he handily beat Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale, who was Vice-President. Mr Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman running on a mainparty ticket, hope to overcome a commanding Reagan-Bush lead in public opinion polls. In 1980 Mr Reagan won the Presidency with 43.9 million popular votes, capturing 44 states. That gave him 489 votes in the Electoral College, which is a system under which the candidate who wins the popular vote in each state gets all of that state’s electoral votes. The electoral votes are appor-

tioned by population, California having the most.

Messrs Carter and Mondale got 35.5 million popular votes, won six states, and had 49 electoral votes in 1980.

Technically the President is not elected until the Electoral College convenes in December at state capitols, the electors cast their ballots, which are forwarded to Washington, and the Senate and the House of Representatives hold a special session in early January to count them.

The vote on election day, a date fixed by law as the first Tuesday (U.S. time) after the first Monday in November, ends a campaign process that began for some candidates more than two years ago and which is expected this year to cost well over SUSI billion.

Mr Mondale announced his candidacy for the office on February 21, 1983, and won the party’s nomination at a national convention in July at San Francisco.