Topic > United States Election System - 830

United States Election System: The United States Presidential Election System was first established by Article II of the United States Constitution. Presidential elections in the United States take place every four years, generally on the Tuesday between November 2 and November 8. The United States presidential electoral system is based on the Electoral College, an institution established to directly elect the President and Vice President during presidential elections. The method of choosing the electoral college is outlined in Article II, Section I, Clauses II and III of the Constitution. As Clause II states, the total number of representatives and senators from each state is equal to the number of electors each state can establish. in the electoral college, however, “no Senator, Representative, or Person holding any office of trust or profit under the United States shall be made an elector” (Article II, Section, Clause II). The Constitution states, however, that the exact method used to choose each state's electoral college members is within the jurisdiction of each state legislature. A common practice in most states is for political parties to appoint their representative electors by vote at the party's state committee meeting or at state party conventions. These nominated individuals generally include party leaders, state elected officials, or individuals politically or personally affiliated with the presidential candidate. On general election day, voters' names may or may not appear on the ballot, depending on the state's prerogatives. Those that appear on the ballot generally appear under the names of the candidates represented by those voters. The citizens... in the center of the card... after obtaining a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives receives the power of president. This voting process also occurs via a ballot, where each state has only one vote and must vote for one of the top three presidential candidates. Likewise, in the event that the Senate must vote for the Vice President, the vote is done by ballot and each state receives only one vote. If no president has been chosen by Inauguration Day, the vice president-elect becomes acting president until a president is chosen. If neither the president nor vice president have been chosen by Inauguration Day, then, under the 20th Amendment, Congress can determine who will be the acting president until a presidential candidate qualifies. Political Parties: Throughout history, American elections have (for the most part) been dominated by a two-party system.