How the American Election System Works

1. How the American Election System Works

2. Types of Elections in the United States • Primary Elections • Election in which a voter will select a political party’s nominee for the general election • Ex. – 2012 presidential primaries • General Elections • Contest between the nominees of political parties • Ex. – Obama v. Romney – 2012 presidency • Elections on a Specific Policy • Referendums – state level method of direct legislation that gives voters the chance to approve/disapprove of proposed legislation for a proposed state constitutional amendment • Initiatives – process permitted in some states whereby voters may put proposed changes in the state constitution to a vote if sufficient signatures are obtained on petitions

3. What Makes Our System Work… The concept of legitimacy – the characterization of elections by political scientists where elections are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of choosing political leaders Legitimacy leads to High Legitimacy – even losers accept the results of an election peacefully

4. Whether to Vote: The First Choice • Throughout history, Constitutional amendments have extended suffrage (the right to vote) to different groups: • In the early 1800’s, many states removed property ownership as a qualification to vote, thus extending the right to vote to nearly every white male • 15th Amendment (1870) – extended suffrage to African American males • 19th Amendment (1920) – extended suffrage to women • 26th Amendment (1971) – extended suffrage to citizens eighteen years and older

5. Whether to Vote: The First Choice • Why People Decide to Vote: • People who see differences between the parties are more likely to vote than those who do not see the differences between the parties • Political Efficacy – those with higher degrees of it are more likely to vote; the belief that one’s political participation really matters and that one’s vote can actually make a difference • Civic Duty – the belief that in order to support a democratic government, a citizen should always vote

6. Whether to Vote: The First Choice • Registering to Vote: • Many states have some sort of voter registration system in place – a system that is adopted by the states that requires voters to register well before Election Day; there are some exceptions that have grown more notable in recent years • Voter registration was theoretically helped tremendously by the Motor Voter Act of 1993 – required that states allow people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license; went into effect for the 1996 presidential election

7. Who Votes? • Demographic Factors that Impact Voting: • Education – people with higher rate than average levels of education vote at a higher rate than those less educated • Age – older people are more likely to vote than younger people • Race – African Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented among voters relative to their share of the population • Gender – today, women participate at slightly hire rates than do men • Marital Status – married people are more likely to vote • Government Employee – having something at stake and being in a position to know more leads to a higher level of participation

8. How Americans Vote • The Mandate Theory of Elections • The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms on politics • As political scientists focus on voter decisions, they focus on three major elements: • 1. Voter’s party identification • 2. Voter’s evaluation of the candidates • 3. Policy voting

9. How Americans Vote

10. Democracy and the Election Process The greater the policy differences between the candidates, the more likely that voters will be ale to steer government policies by their choices. In many instances, voters will engage in a process known as retrospective voting – a theory in which voters will essentially ask the question of what have you done for me lately

11. Whether to Vote: The First Choice • Registering to Vote: • Many states have some sort of voter registration system in place – a system that is adopted by the states that requires voters to register well before Election Day; there are some exceptions that have grown more notable in recent years • Voter registration was theoretically helped tremendously by the Motor Voter Act of 1993 – required that states allow people to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license; went into effect for the 1996 presidential election

12. Choosing a President: The Electoral College • What Is The Electoral College? • It is a uniquely American institution that provides for the selection of the President by electors that are chosen by the state parties • In most cases, the Electoral College vote usually reflects the will of the popular majority • The Electoral College is a “winner take all” system for state electoral votes – therefore, there is a larger focus on big electoral vote states

13. Choosing a President: The Electoral College • How The Electoral College Works Today? • To determine a state’s electoral votes, add its number of representatives (based on population) to its number of Senators (2) • The winner of the popular vote within the state will usually get all of the electoral votes that the state has to offer • The people vote (for electors) the first Tuesday of November; presidential electors meet in December to send their votes that are counted and then reported to the Vice President in January • The magic number to win is 270 electoral votes; if no candidate wins, the House of Reps. chooses the President from the top three electoral vote getters, the Senate chooses the Vice President