Today, Tuesday November 6, 2012, the day of the US elections, will result in either the re-election of Democrat Barack Obama or the appointment of Republican Mitt Romney as the 45th President of the United States of America. For Mexico, a country located on the southern border of the USA, its neighbour's electoral process is an occasion that not only brings about inherent curiosity about a hard-fought and relevant electoral contest, but one that also evokes interest in finding out how things are done there and what repercussions the outcome of the voting could have on Mexico. León Krauze [es], a Mexican journalist specialising in topics regarding the USA, explained the particularities of the American electoral system for Letras Libres as follows: Como quizá sabe el lector, el sistema electoral en Estados Unidos es absurdo. El ganador no es aquel con la mayor cantidad de votos totales (el voto popular), sino quien logra sumar la mayor cantidad de “votos” en el llamado colegio electoral, un “colegio” que no es un lugar sino un proceso: 538 votos repartidos entre los estados de acuerdo con el número de senadores y representantes de cada uno, es decir, con su población. Si suena extrañamente complicado es porque lo es. Este sistema crea vicios casi cómicos, como la concentración de recursos en un puñado de lugares cuya única virtud es ser territorio disputado. El ejemplo perfecto es Ohio. As the reader may know, the electoral system in the United States is absurd. The winner is not the one with the greatest number of total votes (the popular vote), but rather he who manages to accumulate the most votes in the so-called Electoral College, a ‘College’ that is not a place but a process: 538 votes distributed in accordance with the number of senators and representatives of each state, that is to say, with its population. If it sounds oddly complicated, that's because it is. This system creates almost comical faults, as the concentration of resources is in a handful of places whose only virtue is being a disputed territory. The perfect example is Ohio. For his part, the lawyer John M. Ackerman [es] expressed why, in his opinion, the American electoral model should not be a model to follow for other nations: Las campañas presidenciales en curso en Estados Unidos confirman que el sistema político estadunidense no debe fungir como modelo de referencia para nadie. Allá no existe el voto directo para elegir presidente de la República y los dólares cuentan más que los ciudadanos. El bipartidismo institucionalizado y la interminable reelección legislativa imposibilitan debates verdaderos sobre asuntos cruciales, como la desigualdad, el racismo y la corrupción. Tampoco existen organismos autónomos o tribunales electorales que organicen y califiquen las elecciones. The current presidential campaign in the United States confirms that the American political system should not act as a model of reference for anyone. Over there, there is no direct vote to elect a President of the Republic and dollars mean more than citizens. The institutionalised two-party system and the interminable legislative re-election make real debates about crucial matters impossible, like inequality, racism and corruption. Neither do autonomous organisations or electoral tribunals that organise and evaluate the elections exist. Electoral representative delivers “I voted” stickers in Washington D.C. on November, 6, 2012. Photo by Dana Ballout, copyright Demotix. Alejandro Toral [es] explained the relevance of the elections in the US, and pointed out that the presidency is not the only thing at stake: México y América Latina, a pesar de haber distanciado sus relaciones con Estados Unidos debe de estar al pendiente de las elecciones del 6 de noviembre, porque no sólo se elegirán a los representantes del colegio electoral, quienes a partir de diciembre, nombrarán al próximo Presidente; sino también votarán en tres estados la legalización total de la mariguana. Mexico and Latin America, despite having distanced relations with the United States, must be keeping a close watch on the elections on November 6, because not only will representatives of the Electoral College be chosen, who from December will name the next President, but they will also vote in three states regarding the total legalisation of marijuana. The controversial newsreader Joaquín López-Dóriga [es], who is covering the event from Washington D.C., described the protagonists of this contest as follows: Hoy, como en todas elecciones, es un martes decisivo para Estados Unidos: repite el primer presidente negro, el demócrata Barack Obama, o llega a la Casa Blanca un candidato del peor fundamentalismo republicano de la derecha extrema e ignorante, Mitt Romney.