An election is a process in which people vote to decide the leader of the country or to decide any issue. The United State is a representative democracy, in which the adult citizens of the country vote to elect the country’s leaders. These elected leaders make the governmental decisions. The leader serve in the office for a specific amount of time called a term of office.
The United States has a federal government, with elected officials at the federal state and local levels. On a national level, the head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people, through an electoral college. In modern times, the electors virtually always vote with the poplar vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the congress are directly elected. There are many elected offices at the state level. Each state has at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at local level in countries and cities. It is estimated that across the whole country, over one million offices are filled in every electoral cycle.
Both federal and state laws regulate elections. The United States constitution defines how federal elections are held. State laws regulate most aspects of electoral law, including primaries, the eligibility of voters; the running of each states Electoral College, the running of state and the local elections. The financing of elections has always been controversial, because private sources of finance make up substantial amounts of campaign contributions
The method of voting is first past the post where the highest polling candidate is elected. In the case of presidential Electoral College, the highest polling party elects 100 % of the positions allocated to the state. There is no legislative requirement that the successful candidate or party must obtain a majority (50 % or more) of the vote. The number of seats allocated is not proportional to the overall vote. Further, there is no requirement or threshold in the number or percentage of voter turnout, which is often below 50 % of the eligible voters.
The eligibility of the voters is set out on the constitution and regulated at state level. The constitution states that suffrage cannot be denied on grounds of race or color, sec or age for citizens eighteen years or older. Beyond these basic qualifications, it is the responsibility of the legislatures to regulate voter’s eligibility. Some state bars convinced criminals, especially felons, from voting for a fixed period of time or indefinitely. The number of American adults who are currently or permanently ineligible to vote due to felony convictions is estimated to be 5.3 billion.
Every state except North Dakota requires that citizens who wish to vote be registered. Some states allow citizens to vote on the same day of elections. Traditionally, voters had to register at state office to vote, but in the mid 1990’s efforts were made by the federal government to make registration easier, in an attempt to increase turn out.
The United States has a presidential system of government, which means that executive and legislature are elected separately. The constitution states that members of United States House representatives must be at least 25 years old.