The US presidential election is an indirect election where citizens vote for party representatives called electors. Each state has a number of electors based on its congressional representation, and the winner-takes-all system is used in most states. Electors then vote for the president and vice president, with the winner needing at least 270 electoral votes. The process has been criticized as complex and potentially problematic, and voters are subject to legal penalties if they vote against their party’s candidate.
The presidential election in the United States is an indirect election, which means that the citizens of the country do not actually decide who becomes the president. Instead, they vote for political party representatives known as voters who cost votes on their behalf. The whole process is quite byzantine and can be confusing for people unfamiliar with the intricacies of the electoral college.
The electoral college system used in the United States for presidential elections was established as a compromise when the drafters of the Constitution first met to establish the new nation. Many people did not want to leave the choice of president to the popular vote and preferred to see the president elected by Congress. Others felt this would be undemocratic and advocated a popular vote. The result was a compromise: citizens vote for party voters, who in turn vote for certain candidates.
Each state is assigned as many electors for presidential elections as it has senators and congressional representatives. The current number of voters stands at 538: 535 for the various states and three for Washington, DC. States decide how electors are designated, with each party having its own electors. Voters can be divided by district, or in other ways, and are nominated before the election so that when the popular vote is counted, each party has a slate of electors ready to represent it. To be a voter, a person generally has to be an active and involved member of the political party he represents.
When people go to the polls in presidential elections, their ballots may list candidates by name and party, but they are actually voting for the electorate. When someone votes for the Republican presidential candidate, for example, they are voting for the Republican elector. When voting closes, votes are tallied. Most states have a winner-take-all system, where the winner of the popular vote in the state takes all voters. Two states, Maine and Nebraska, give two electors to the winner of the popular vote and divide the rest by district, meaning party electors can potentially split a state. This happened in 2008, when the Democratic candidate for president won just one electoral vote in Nebraska, while the Republican candidate took the state’s other four electoral votes.
On the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December, voters representing the victorious political party gather to cast their votes in their state capitals. In most cases, voters are busy voting for their party candidates, although they may choose to vote for other candidates. Anyone who votes for an opposing party is known as a faithless voter, and in some regions, faithless voters are subject to legal penalties. Voters fill out two ballots: one with the name of the President and the other with the name of the Vice-President. These ballots are counted and certified, then sent to Congress, where they are opened by the sitting Vice President in January and counted to declare the winner of the election.
To win, a presidential candidate must acquire at least 270 electoral votes. If a candidate does not obtain a majority of the votes, Congress elects the President, under the terms of the 12th Amendment. The process of determining the outcome of presidential elections in America has been criticized as overly complex and potentially problematic, as it is possible to lose the popular vote and still get enough electoral votes to win.
An interesting note about voters: Under the Habitation Clause, when voting for president and vice president, only one of the candidates can be from a voter’s home state. If both candidates are from New York, for example, New York voters can only legally vote for one. That’s one reason presidential candidates choose running mates from other states.
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