The United States, which from afar seems to be in a frenzied, polarized and non-stop election battle, saw the Republican party prevail Tuesday over the Democrats in mid-term elections. The Republicans will now control both houses. For the country that often claims to lead the democratic world, voter turnout was shockingly low: slightly more than 25 percent of citizens bothered to show up at polls in Los Angeles County; only a few places roused more than 40 per cent. Nearly 60 per cent of Americans cast ballots in the 2012 presidential election. However, as a historic chart from the Center for Voting and Democracy shows, low participation is common in mid term elections.
What does Tuesday’s election result mean?
“This is not a “Republican Revolution”, although it is clearly good news for conservatives and bad news for President Obama,” writes Tom Packer of the University of Oxford. “And yet, in some areas – particularly trade – there is a very real possiblity that the new majority may prove more helpful for President Obama than the divided Congress it succeeds.” …. read (at no charge* America’s midterm election: the view from Oxford.
Here is United States President Barack Obama’s full press conference responding to the election from the White House.
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