The Federal Election Process

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The Federal Election Process

• or, how we elect our presidentand why it works
  that way.

FYI Q Do all secretaries of state handle
elections?   A No, although the majority of
secretaries of state (39) do have election
responsibilities. AZs secretary of state does.
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• Americans regularly exercise their democratic
  rights by voting in elections and by
  participating in political parties and election
  campaigns.
• Today, there are two major political parties in
  the United States
• The Democratic and the Republican
• The Democratic Party evolved from the party of
  Thomas Jefferson, formed before 1800.
• The Republican Party was established in the 1850s
  by Abraham Lincoln and others who opposed the
  expansion of slavery into new states then being
  admitted to the Union.

• Minor political parties -- generally referred to
  as "third parties" -- occasionally form in the
  United States, but their candidates are rarely
  elected to office.
• Minor parties often serve, however, to call
  attention to an issue that is of concern to
  voters, but has been neglected in the political
  dialogue.
• When this happens, one or both of the major
  parties may address the matter, and the third
  party disappears.

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The Process

• At the national level, elections are held every
  two years, in even-numbered years, on the first
  Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
• State and local elections often coincide with
  national elections, but they also are held in
  other years and can take place at other times of
  year.
• The nominating process within the political
  parties officially begins with the first state
  primaries and caucuses, which usually occur in
  the month of February of the election year.
• These primaries and caucuses choose slates of
  delegates (usually pledged to support particular
  candidates) to represent the state at the
  national party conventions.

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The Process continues

• At the national party conventions, traditionally
  held in the summer, the delegates from the states
  cast votes to select the party's candidate for
  president.
• On election day -- the first Tuesday following
  the first Monday in November of an election year
  -- every citizen of legal age who has taken the
  steps necessary in his or her state to meet the
  voting requirements (such as registering to vote)
  has an opportunity to vote.
• However, the president is not formally chosen by
  direct popular vote.
• The constitution calls for a process of indirect
  popular election known as the electoral college.

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How the Electoral College numbers can change

• The distribution of electoral votes among the
  States can vary every 10 years depending on the
  results of the United States Census.
• Every state has at least 3 electoral votes,
  because the Constitution grants each State two
  Senators and at least one Representative.
• In addition to the 535 electoral votes divided
  among the States, the District of Columbia has
  three electoral votes because the 23rd Amendment
  granted it the same number of votes as the least
  populated State.

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Red and Blue statesit means?

• The (contiguous 48) states of the country are
  colored red or blue to indicate whether a
  majority of their voters voted for the Republican
  candidate (George W. Bush) or the Democratic
  candidate (John F. Kerry) respectively.
• The map gives the superficial impression that the
  "red states" dominate the country, since they
  cover far more area than the blue ones.
• However, as pointed out by many others, this is
  misleading because it fails to take into account
  the fact that most of the red states have small
  populations, whereas most of the blue states have
  large ones.
• The blue may be small in area, but they are large
  in terms of numbers of people, which is what
  matters in an election.

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Presidential election results map. Red denotes
states won by Bush/Cheney, Blue denotes those won
by Kerry/Edwards. Numbers indicate electoral
votes allotted to a state.

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Electoral Collegeantiquated, or not?

• The political parties (or independent candidates)
  in each state submit to the chief election
  official a list of electors pledged to their
  candidate for president and equal in number to
  the state's electoral vote.
• Each state is allocated a number of electors
  equal to the number of its U.S. senators (always
  2) plus the number of its U.S. representatives
  (based on populationlarger states more
  electoral votes).
• Following election day, on the first Monday after
  the second Wednesday in December, these electors
  assemble in their state capitals, cast their
  ballots, and officially select the next
  president. As a rule, whichever presidential
  ticket gets the most popular votes in a state
  wins all of that state's electors (except in
  Maine and Nebraska).
• The president-elect and vice president-elect take
  the oath of office and are inaugurated on January
  20th.

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Electoral Votesneeded for Presidential Election

• The Electoral College consists of 538 electors
  (one for each of 435 members of the House of
  Representatives and 100 Senators and 3 for the
  District of Columbia by virtue of the 23rd
  Amendment.
• A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to
  elect the President and Vice President.
• No Constitutional provision or Federal law
  requires electors to vote in accordance with the
  popular vote in their State.
• If no candidate receives a majority of electoral
  votes, the House of Representatives elects the
  President from the 3 Presidential candidates who
  received the most electoral votes.
• Each State delegation has one vote.
• The Senate would elect the Vice President from
  the 2 Vice Presidential candidates with the most
  electoral votes.
• Each Senator would cast one vote for Vice
  President. If the House of Representatives fails
  to elect a President by Inauguration Day, the
  Vice-President Elect serves as acting President
  until the deadlock is resolved in the House.

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Why do we still have the Electoral College?

• The Electoral College process is part of the
  original design of the U.S. Constitution. It
  would be necessary to pass a Constitutional
  amendment to change this system.
• Note that the 12th Amendment, the expansion of
  voting rights, and the use of the popular vote in
  the States as the vehicle for selecting electors
  has substantially changed the process.
• Many different proposals to alter the
  Presidential election process have been offered
  over the years, such as direct nation-wide
  election by the People, but none have been passed
  by Congress and sent to the States for
  ratification.
• Under the most common method for amending the
  Constitution, an amendment must be proposed by a
  two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress
  and ratified by three-fourths of the States.

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References

• http//usa.usembassy.de/government-elections.htm
• http//www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral
  -college/index.html
• http//usa.usembassy.de/government-elections.htm
• http//www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral
  -college/procedural_guide.html