United States Electoral System

KEY DATES OF THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

In the United States, the president is elected for a period of four years and since 1951, with the introduction of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, he cannot serve more than two terms. The election calendar was defined shortly after independence from the USA and has been maintained until today:

PRIMARY ELECTIONS

The process to elect the President begins with the primaries of each party and in each state during the first six months of the electoral year. It is a nomination system that encourages competition among applicants. With the result of the primaries, the candidate nominated for the presidency of the country is chosen, who will participate in the November election against the nominee of the opposing party.

the voter. Except in the state of North Dakota, US citizens over the age of 18 who wish to vote in a primary or presidential election must register as voters. The process and requirements to register vary by state.

In many states, when registering, citizens have the possibility of ?joining? (but free of charge) to one of the two parties if you wish to participate in that party’s primary election, caucus, or convention. In no case may a citizen join two parties or in two states, but he may change his affiliation before the election.

The chose. The nomination of the presidential candidate is made in each state of the country and can be done through two systems: caucuses or primary elections.

One of the important appointments in the primaries is the so-called Super Tuesday, the day on which more numbers of states hold primary elections. During the 2016 electoral period, Super Tuesday took place on March 1 with elections in twelve states: Alabama, Alaska (Republican), Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia.

national party convention. Once the primaries are held, during the summer, the parties hold their national convention in which the candidate for the presidency is officially announced and he designates his running mate, who will occupy the vice presidency in case of being the winner. . Each year the Conventions bring together party leaders who focus on the campaign lines in their speeches and publicly show their support for the nominated candidate.

For the 2016 election, the Republican National Convention will take place July 18-21 in Ohio and the Democratic National Convention the week of July 25 in Philadelphia.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

After the designation of the candidate for President and Vice President of each of the parties, the presidential election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in which registered voters over 18 years of age elect the delegates who will vote on their behalf for the President of the nation, through a system of electoral colleges.

electoral college system. The US presidential lesson system is indirect. Citizens do not directly elect the candidate, but delegates or electors within each state who will cast electoral votes on their behalf. To win the elections, the candidate must obtain an absolute majority of electoral votes, which does not always coincide with the popular vote.

Delegates or voters. They are the designated representatives within each state to cast the electoral vote that will define who is the President. The total number of delegates is 538, equivalent to the number of deputies in the House of Representatives (435) plus the number of Senators (100) plus the 3 delegates from Washington DC.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF??

Would there be a tie? In the event that no candidate obtains the majority of electoral votes, the decision to choose the President passes to Congress, according to the 12th Amendment of the Constitution:

?Would there be a winner of the popular vote who loses the electoral vote? It is possible for a candidate to lose the elections despite having obtained more popular votes than his opponent.

On four occasions the candidate with the most popular votes has not been elected:

Would there be disloyal compromisers? It may be the case that the delegate does not vote for the candidate of his party, for which he would have the commitment to vote according to the result of the popular election and the rules of distribution of the electoral vote of his State.

The Constitution does not impose party discipline (it does not force a voter to vote for their party), but 29 states and the District of Columbia require loyalty from their constituents, and five states provide penalties for unfair voters ranging from fines of $1,000 to criminal convictions. However, no disloyal voter has ever been penalized.

In the history of the country, only 10 delegates have been disloyal, changing the votes of their party and the popular decision of the state. However, the situation never changed the outcome of an election. Among the most recent: