{"id":12172,"date":"2020-11-12T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=12172"},"modified":"2020-11-12T16:30:54","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T16:30:54","slug":"the-us-election-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-us-election-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"The US Election in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

As expected, the US election was a drawn-out process this time with television networks being careful with their projections. The winner was projected only last Friday. As always with the election of a new president in the United States, the whole world was watching – Germany as well. How was the election covered, and what did Merkel have to say about it?<\/p>\n

Die US-Wahl<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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Image by Phillip Goldsberry at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

In Germany, the US elections are known as the\u00a0US-Wahl<\/em>. The only ones that are really followed and tracked like this are the presidential elections every four years. And while Germany does not have a network that covers the election non-stop like Fox News, MSNBC or CNN,\u00a0Nachrichtensender<\/em> (news channels) like\u00a0Tagesschau <\/em>ran a live blog<\/a> similar to the American outlets with continuous updates of Wahlergebnisse <\/em>(election results) and a Karte\u00a0<\/em>(Map) with updates<\/a>. But not just\u00a0Tagesschau<\/em>. Also\u00a0ZDF<\/em><\/a> has live updates, for example. Not that this doesn’t happen for the German elections – it does<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And yet, there is something about the\u00a0US-Wahl\u00a0<\/em>that gets more excitement, whether that’s the fact that it’s a race for one of the most important offices in the world that is only between two people, or the first-past-the-post system that decides an entire state for whoever gets most votes. Germany has a weird, complicated system that we’ll talk about one day, but it lacks the simplicity that makes the American election so easy to follow and discuss.<\/p>\n

You can also find opinions of Germans via #USWahl, #USAWahl and #USWahl2020. Here’s some German election vocabulary:<\/p>\n

der Wahlmann, die Wahlleute <\/em><\/strong>– “election man”, “election people”, the words for elector(s) of the Electoral College<\/p>\n

die Wahlm\u00e4nnerversammlung\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>– Electoral College (however, the term “Electoral College” is used more in German news)<\/p>\n

die Stimme<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>– vote<\/p>\n

Zweihundertsiebzig Stimmen<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>– two-hundred seventy votes<\/p>\n

die Mehrheit <\/em><\/strong>– Majority<\/p>\n

die Ausz\u00e4hlung<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>– (vote) count<\/p>\n

die Entscheidung<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>– decision<\/p>\n

die Hochburg\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>– stronghold (used for stronghold states for each party)<\/p>\n

der Schlachtfeldstaat\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>– battleground state (the German term is not used much; “Swing State” is a more likely term in German news)<\/p>\n

die republikanische Partei<\/em><\/strong> – Republican Party<\/p>\n

die Demokraten<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>– the Democrats<\/p>\n

die Umfrage <\/em><\/strong>– poll<\/p>\n

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Merkel’s Speech<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Chancellor #Merkel<\/a> congratulates @JoeBiden<\/a> and @KamalaHarris<\/a>. The German-American friendship has proved its worth over many decades, as #9 November, a special day in German history, also reminds us. #Election2020<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cf5jXCEZ8X<\/a><\/p>\n

— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecherStS) November 9, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n