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Despite Sandy, US presidential election to be held on November 6

Washington:The US presidential election on November 6 cannot be postponed due to superstorm Sandy, which left many towns under water and millions without power.

Explaining the reasons, CNN reports that when Americans go to the polls on Election Day, they are not voting directly for their choice for president or vice president. Instead, they are voting to select representatives – or “electors” — to the Electoral College, the body that actually determines who will be President and Vice President.

The Constitution gives Congress the authority to determine “time” of choosing those electors. In 1845, Congress passed a law that set Tuesday immediately following the first Monday in November of every election year as Election Day across the country.

So a complete statewide postponement would arguably violate the 1845 law, the 2004 report suggested. But the report also pointed out that the Supreme Court has emphasised the role states play in selecting the presidential electors, so a state might be allowed to postpone an entire statewide vote for President in emergency circumstances like a hurricane or other natural disaster.

Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and Democratic Vice-President Joe Biden are running for a second term. Their major challengers are the Republican Party nominee Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate vice-presidential candidate Congressman Paul Ryan.

Superstorm Sandy, which hit America on Monday, has claimed at least 70 lives. Neighbourhoods in New York and New Jersey were still water-logged and rescue workers were still pulling out bodies from ruins.

 

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