United States Electoral Process



Unit 4: United States Electoral Process

An election is the process by which citizens select the thousands of men and women they want to run their government--at all levels. In a democracy, government officials are chosen by the people and serve for a specific time called a term of office. Depending on state laws, an official may run for reelection once the term is over. Our system of government is called a representative democracy. American citizens do not directly make governmental decisions. They elect officials to govern for them. Most elections in our country are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. But elections for public offices may be held at any time, depending on state law.

When the Constitution was written in 1787, it basically left the decision to each state as to who could vote in elections. Most states did not at first give the right to vote to women or African Americans.

In 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War, the 15th Amendment was passed. This amendment guaranteed the right to vote to male African Americans. However, it took another 100 years for African Americans to be able to fully exercise this right.

American women were not allowed to vote at the national level until 1920. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed that year, and the following November millions of American women voted in the presidential election for the first time. 

The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1971, says that anyone over 18 is allowed to vote.

In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act. This law guaranteed that the federal government would intervene if any state attempted to deny a citizen's voting rights because of race. As a result of this act, millions of African Americans in the South were allowed to register to vote for the first time.

On the average, about 60% of voting-age Americans vote in presidential elections. For local elections, voter turn out is usually much lower.

No political parties officially existed when the U.S. Constitution was written in the late 1780s. The founders of the country actually felt that political parties were not a good thing and that they would divide people against each other and harm the democracy. However within 10 years after the Constitution was written, the U.S. had two major political parties--the Federalist Party that was a proponent of a strong central government--and the Democratic-Republican party (also called the Anti-Federalist Party) that supported strong state governments. The Democratic-Republican Party eventually became known as the Democratic Party. The Whig party developed in the 1830s in opposition to President Andrew Jackson and his policies. The Whig party eventually split apart, mainly over the issue of slavery. Proslavery Whigs rejoined the Democratic Party and many antislavery Whigs formed a new party in 1854 called the Republican Party. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president.

Today, the Democrats and Republicans remain the two leading parties in our country. However, there are other political parties such as the Independent Party, the Reform Party, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, the Socialist Party, the Populist Party, and others.

Part 1: How It Starts

Start with the Constitution. The basic process of selecting the President of the United States is spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, and it has been modified by the 12th, 22nd, and 23rd amendments. Many additional steps have been added over the years, by custom and by state law -- the process has changed quite a bit over time.

Who can run? The President and Vice-President are elected every four years. They must be at least 35 years of age, they must be native-born citizens of the United States, and they must have been residents of the U.S. for at least 14 years. (Also, a person cannot be elected to a third term as President.)

Presidential elections are held every four years, but it almost seems that as soon as one campaign ends, the next one begins. This is particularly true when there is a two-term Vice President; it is the expectation that that person will run for President in the next election, and speculation begins almost immediately about possible challengers, both within the VP's party and the opposition. Examples are Al Gore after the 1996 election and George H.W. Bush after the 1988 election.

Most people who run for president are already famous. After all, if you want to be chosen by a majority of the people in America, it helps if many of them know who you are. Most people who run for president are already serving in government, as members of the U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives or as state governors. Former military officers have also run for president.

There are no set steps to becoming a presidential candidate. The joke goes that a person announces his intention to start thinking about the possible setup of an exploratory committee to look into the possibility of a potential run. Federal election law does require candidates to file certain forms with the government when they have raised a certain amount of money, and when and if they spend certain amounts of money (the Federal Election Commission administers federal election law); sometimes these filings are the first official indication of a candidate's intention to run.

While none of these steps are required except the last, a candidate can go through many steps. These include floating their name to party rank-and-file to get a read for how they might fare; giving speeches and meeting party faithful in key states like California, New Hampshire, and Iowa; forming an exploratory committee to officially explore the possibility of a run; and forming a final presidential committee to actually run the presidential campaign. Some or all of this happens before the first primary, which means that the eighteen to 24 months prior to the actual election is quite a busy time in the news.

A presidential candidate first makes an official announcement that he or she is running for president. Then, he or she or someone else on his or her behalf must file papers with the federal elections commission, which regulates the election process. Candidates usually make these announcements at least a year before the presidential election, in order to give themselves enough time to get their messages out and also to give voters enough time to get to know the candidates.

Once the announcement is made, the candidate begins to work very hard to make sure that he keeps his or her name in the public eye. He or she makes speeches, meets with officials from other countries, goes on high-profile trips, etc. The candidate also tends to cut back on time he or she spends in government (if he or she is serving there) to run for president.

When January of an election year rolls around, the candidates begin their heavy lifting for the campaign ahead. As more months go by, people in the American states gather to show their support for the various candidates. (It is very rare for just one candidate from a major political party to run for president, so many names means many people running for the same job.) These gatherings are called primary elections or caucuses. A primary election looks very much like a general election: Voters get ballots that list the names of the people running for president and then go to a polling place and vote for one of those people. A caucus is a gathering of people who discuss the issues and the candidates at a central location and then cast their votes for candidates.

It should be noted here that the majority of people who vote in an American presidential election belong to some kind of political party. The two major political parties are Democratic and Republican. Other political parties include Reform, Green, Natural Law, and Libertarian. If you belong to the Democratic Party, you will get a primary election ballot that contains only the names of the people running for president who are also Democrats. The same is true for Republican voters and for members of other political parties. In the general election, anyone can vote for anyone.

Leading up to and during the caucus-primary election period, the various presidential candidates make trips across the country, visiting people everywhere and giving speeches, trying to drum up support. Candidates will often appear alongside other famous people, like sports stars or movie stars, hoping to gain some support by association with these people in the spotlight. The candidates will often get together and have debates, which are usually televised. This is another way for voters to make up their minds on which candidate should get their votes.

Once all the candidates have campaigns up and running, there are two watershed events in the election process: The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries. By those states' laws, they must be the first caucus and election in the nation, and by the acceptance of this tradition by the major parties, a tradition has emerged. When other states set the dates of their primaries and caucuses, these states set their dates. Because everyone wants to be early, the date of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary get earlier and earlier each year. In 1996, this pushed the New Hampshire primary was held on February 20; in 2000 it was held on February 1; in 2004 on January 27; and in 2008 on January 9. Iowa's law requires that its caucus be the week prior to any other selection event, so its 2008 caucus was held on January 4.

Primaries are basically elections where the members of each party in a state decide which candidate they support. In essence, it is like a mini presidential election, in that the voters of the state decide which candidate their delegates to the party convention later in the year will vote for. Caucuses are similar, but instead of elections, they are meetings where small groups agree, via various means, to support certain candidates.

In Iowa, a series of local meetings held at the precinct level are held. In the caucuses, members of the various parties meet to conduct party business. The only thing that most people are concerned about, however, is the expression of their feelings for which presidential candidate they prefer. The decisions of the precincts affect the delegates to county conventions, which in turn decide who will attend both district and state conventions. Ultimately, these other gatherings will decide whom Iowa will send to national party conventions. Though the percentage of caucus votes for a candidate may not equate to a percentage of delegates to the national convention, the votes are often held as a good measure of how Middle America feels about each candidate. Other states that use a caucus system have similar details.

The New Hampshire primary is an example of a much more direct method for doling out delegates to the national conventions. The percentage of votes for any one candidate will determine the percentage of the state's delegates to the convention. States that use a primary system assign delegates similarly.

As the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary approach and pass, candidates will be getting a good read for their support. Doubtless, media polls held up to this point will give a general feeling of the level of support, but these events are the first indication of how real voters feel. Accordingly, candidates who do not do well start to drop out of the race at an alarming rate after the New Hampshire Primary. Generally, only a few front-runners survive New Hampshire.

After the New Hampshire Primary, the front-runners move their campaigns to the other states, to try to gather support in their primaries and caucuses. In recent times, rarely has a nomination gone all the way to the last primary. In 1996, for example, the Republican New Hampshire Primary had eight major candidates; by the end of May, only Bob Dole was left, with some candidates holding out to ensure they had a voice at the convention, but with no serious chance of winning the nomination.

Technically, the end of the primary campaign against members of your own party is the party convention, normally held in August before the election. From January to August, each political party picks a group of people from each state to represent the state at the convention. At the convention, the delegates cast their votes for the candidate who was the top vote getter in that state in the caucus or primary election. (This is a warm-up for the Electoral College, which comes later.) From this point on it is as if there's a race to a finish line of sorts.

Each election year, the two major parties, and many of the minor ones, hold conventions. Conventions first began in the mid-1800's, and have been a staple of the American Presidential election process ever since.

The purpose of political conventions is to do many things. First and foremost, the party's candidate for President and Vice President are finalized. The choosing of a Vice Presidential running mate is seen as a real art form in today's modern political scene. Originally, the position was held by, well, the loser. The original Constitution stated that the runner-up in the election for President would become Vice President. It was quickly obvious that this was unworkable. Though the Vice President is often said to have the least important elected office in the United States, the President should have a Vice President upon whom he can rely on and get advice from. Having a political rival be your VP is hardly a prospect most presidents would appreciate.

Today, the President and Vice President are voted on separately in the Electoral College (though usually not in the popular election). This almost assures that the winner of both races will be from the same party, and ensures the President will have his choice in the White House with him.

The choice of a running mate is a strategic decision. A presidential candidate must look at himself to determine where his weaknesses are, and choose a running mate who will, hopefully, flesh out the ticket and instill confidence in the voters that the administration will be balanced. Historically, a candidate would choose a VP from another area of the country, to appeal to the entire nation and not just one area. John Kennedy, for example, was from Massachusetts, and chose Lyndon Johnson, of Texas, to be his running mate. By choosing someone from the South, Kennedy hoped to overcome any "damn Yankee" prejudices. Kennedy also got a Protestant to counter his Catholicism, and a member of the older generation to counter his youth.

In addition to the selection of the candidates, the convention is a chance for the party to finalize its platform. The platform is the basic foundation of beliefs that the party will run on in the upcoming election. The platform is made up of planks, each plank addressing a particular topic, stating the party's position on any of a number of issues. For example, a plank might address the party's position on abortion, or gun control, or the family; the planks are typically hot-button issues that are circulating through society at the time, and let the party make public the consensus of its members on these issues. By no means is it expected that every member of the party agrees with every plank; the platform is a result of compromise, and as a result, no one is ever completely happy with the result.

Conventions also give the party hierarchy a chance to have a national audience when they give speeches, and it is typical for the timing and schedule of speakers to be a matter of great concern, debate, and compromise. For example, will in-party opponents of the nominee-apparent be allowed to speak? Perhaps a candidate will pledge his delegates to one of the other candidates in exchange for a prominent spot in the speaker list. Since political conventions are carried on some of the national television media, prime viewing time spots are coveted and reserved for the best the party has to offer.

Finally, conventions allow the party faithful the opportunity to network with the members of other state organizations, to have fun collecting buttons, state memorabilia, and other trinkets, and to just have a generally good time. Conventions are typically held in a party-like atmosphere, with the partial intent of influencing the viewing audience to stick with their candidates, both national and local, in the upcoming election.

Part 2: How It All Ends Up

Once the conventions are finished, the home stretch for the presidential election begins. Speeches, fundraisers, and debates follow, with all candidates trying to keep themselves in the public eye as much as possible. The popularity of the Internet has added a dimension to candidates' ability to get their message across.

The presidential campaign is generally known to start once the candidates for the two major parties have been decided in convention. The outcome of those conventions is almost always well known before the actual convention itself. There are several features to the final phase of the presidential campaign that can be highlighted.

The first of these is the stump speech. The stump speech is nothing new in this phase; each candidate will have had one during the primaries, but in the final phase, it takes on more importance. The stump speech is the standard speech given by a candidate, to highlight his or her plans for the next term of the presidency and to contrast the plans of the opponent. These speeches tend to use broad, general terms and espouse broad and general policies, designed to attract the maximum number of voters.

Another common sight is the presidential debate. Debates are also not new in the process, with primary debates having taken place a while back, but now the focus is not on a dozen candidates but on just two (or, with Reform, three). Debates are often well scripted, with candidates well versed in possible questions, and with evasion techniques well trained. You might be surprised how well a candidate can evade a very specific question, redirecting his answer to a completely different topic. The debates often do not answer too many real questions, and major gaffes are rare, but they do give the public a chance to see the candidates face off in a way they would not otherwise.

The media is another major factor in the final phase. Newspapers revel in the election season, with more to report on a day-to-day basis than at any other time of the four-year cycle. Television is filled with daily updates on the candidates, their whereabouts, the additions to stump speeches, and the perennial topic of campaigns and finances. Radio, and more so television, has transformed the way campaigns are conducted. No longer are the candidates waging wars of words, but now they are wars of sound bites — what catch phrase or three-second snippet of a speech can we push to make our point, or to berate the opposition? Since the 1960 debate between Kennedy and Nixon, the first to be televised, television and politics have become inextricably mixed

While all of this is going on, the voting public watches the debate, watches and listens to TV and radio commercials, and gets input barraged from nearly all sides of every issue. Political action committees vie for funds and push agendas, as do labor unions, companies, and other public figures. Newspapers and other media endorse candidates. Scandal is almost always omnipresent, as some former boyfriend of a former girlfriend of an aide to a candidate comes forward with some shocking revelation (or, even, the candidate himself comes forward to admit to wrong-doing). The cycle of point and counterpoint continues right up until Election Day.

The presidential election takes place every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. (If November 1 is a Tuesday, then the election takes place on November 8.) People across the country cast their votes for whichever candidate they believe will do the best job. Typically, only about half to 60% of all voters actually vote, but the reporting that goes on from the day the first vote is cast until the last poll closes in Hawaii, the nation holds its breath. Were the polls right — does the front-runner have it in the bag, or did the dark horse come up from behind? Of what effect were any last-minute scandals or third party candidates?

The media have been covering elections for hundreds of years, and in the last ten or so, have honed the prediction of the winner to a science. Often, networks hold off on their predictions until the last polls close, but often word slips out that one or the other is ahead. As results pour in from voting districts around the nation, the presumed electoral votes mount for each candidate; usually by eight or nine o'clock, Eastern Time, the winner is apparent, and the nation begins to prepare itself for either the status quo, or a big change. This vote is called the popular vote, but it is more than a popularity contest. This is where the Electoral College comes in.

When you vote for a mayor, senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a judge, etc. you are voting directly for that person. However, when you vote for president, you are really voting for an elector who has pledged to represent that candidate. The electors chosen by each state are called the Electoral College. They are a group of people who officially elect the president and vice president. Each state has as many votes in the Electoral College as it has senators and members of the House of Representatives. For example, Utah has 2 senators and 3 members of the House of Representatives--so it has 5 electoral votes. Large states like California have more than 50 electoral votes. States small in population like Alaska only have 3 electoral votes. To be elected, a presidential candidate must put together enough states in the election to get a majority (more than half of the total) of the Electoral College.

The Electoral College is a group of people who gather to cast their votes for the various presidential candidates (much like the delegates at the political party conventions). When we as Americans are casting our votes for the presidential candidates, we are actually casting our votes for electors, who will cast their votes for the candidates. Each state has the same number of electors as it has senators and representatives (there are two senators from each state, but the number of representatives depends on the state population in the most recent census). The District of Columbia, although it isn't a state, also participates in presidential elections -- it currently has three electors.

The presidential candidate who receives the most votes in each state gets all of the electoral votes for that state. In other words, if the state of Vermont has three electoral votes, it casts all of its electoral votes for the winning candidate. So if Diana Valdez has 4,100,103 votes and Fred Smith has 4,100,100 votes, Diana Valdez still gets all three of Vermont's electoral votes and Fred Smith gets 0. Even though the American public knows the winner of the presidential election on the actual day of the election in November, that winner is not really yet official. The Electoral College meets officially in December. Its votes are sealed and sent to the U.S. Senate. When the Congress meets in January, the current vice president of the United States unseals the envelope and announces the results to the Senate. This is the official moment at which the president and vice president are really elected.

When all the electoral votes are counted, the president with the most votes wins. In most cases, the candidate who wins the popular vote also wins in the Electoral College. (A few times before, this has not been the case. If there's no Electoral College winner, the House of Representatives chooses the President. In the rare event that no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes, then the President is chosen instead by the House of Representatives, from the top three presidential vote-getters in the Electoral College; each state delegation in Congress casts one vote. (The Senate would choose the Vice-President from the top two vice-presidential vote getters.)

The presidential election (the popular vote) takes place in November, but the new president doesn't take office until January 20 of the following year. (If a president gets re-elected, he goes right on serving.) The Constitution limits presidents to two terms. Once a president has served two terms, he retires from public office, making way for the next group of political hopefuls. Every four years, the process starts all over again.

Voter Registration

Any citizen of the United States over the age of 18, and who meets certain state requirements, may vote in Federal elections. This has not always been the case. When the United States first won its independence, there were many restrictions on who could vote. In some states, only white male landowners over the age of 21 could vote. Beginning in 1870, however, a series of Constitutional Amendments (15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th) and passage of certain pieces of legislation have extended voting privileges to more and more citizens.

It is everyone's civic responsibility to vote, but in order to do so you must be registered. Requirements for registration and registration deadlines vary from state to state and the District of Columbia. North Dakota is the only state that does not require voters to register.

Registration forms may be obtained from the local election officials in your county or from the state's election office. You can also register to vote when applying for services at:

• State departments of motor vehicle or drivers' licensing offices

• State offices providing public assistance

• State offices providing State-funded programs for the disabled

• Armed forces recruitment offices

In addition to these locations, many states offer registration opportunities at public libraries, post offices, unemployment offices, public high schools and universities, and through organizations such as the League of Women Voters.

The National Mail Voter Registration Form is the one document that allows you to register to vote from anywhere in the United States. While the form is available online and accepted by most states, not all states accept a computer-generated form. Get the answers to all your registration questions and the form from the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) Web site.

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