US citizens are all set to cast their franchise on November 5. Americans will vote for presidency and also for 34 Senate seats and 435 House seats, 11 governorships and thousands of state legislative positions.
The US Congress technically comprises of two chambers. It has the House of Representatives, which is made up of deputies who represent 435 different constituencies with roughly the same population size. They are re-elected every two years, including at the mid-term elections, two years into a presidential term.
Besides, the Senate of the second chamber has just 100 seats, two for every state. The 100 senators are each elected for six-year terms. However, representatives are divided into three classes, whose six-year terms are staggered, with one third of senators standing for election every two years.
Interestingly, these elections will also see India-born Ashwin Ramaswami is contesting against Republican Senator Shawn Still in Georgia's Senate District 48.
Ramaswami is a young Indian American Democrat contesting from the seat.
Ramaswami hails from Tamil Nadu. He grew up in Johns Creek. At the age of 25, he is contesting from Georgia State Senate in District 48. Ramaswami has studied Computer Science at Stanford University. He has also a law degree at Georgetown University.
Besides, he is also said to have an expertise in cyber security. Reportedly, he has worked with CISA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, where he helped secure local election systems from cyberattacks.
Ramaswami has also worked with Schmidt Futures, where he conducted research on securing open-source software, which contributed to a bill in Congress.
He is also said to have given lectures on Hindu philosophy and raised $100,000 for Dharmic programmes at Georgetown, supporting students of various faiths, including Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist.
Ramaswami's campaign promises election security and integrity, positioning him against Shawn Still's alleged 2020 election-related activities.
Ramaswami's campaign has raised more than $700,000 in funding, which is considered a significant amount for a first-time candidate.
