US Electoral System

Introduction

The U.S. presidential election is played by indirect universal suffrage. U.S. citizens vote for candidates of their choice for the presidency and vice presidency. This election takes place on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in the election year. Candidates with the most votes in a state receive all electoral votes of that State. The system of Electors is governed by Section 2 of Article 1 of the Constitution. The number of Electors of each state depends on the number of elected representatives in Congress from this state: either two senators or a number of members proportional to the population of the state. At present, there are 538 Electors, 100 senators (2 in all 50 states of the Union) and 435 representatives, which must be added since 1964 and Amendment XXIII, three voters in the District of Columbia.

Description

The President of the United States is elected by universal suffrage according to a poll with two degrees: the "popular vote" in November and that of "electoral votes" in December:

- The popular vote: the vote conducted by the entire American electorate, in every state, voters vote for the citizens a list of "Great Elector" of the party supporting the presidential candidate of their choice. The list that obtains the majority of popular votes wins all the mandates assigned to the state.

- The electoral vote: the vote is cast by the "Grand Electors" elected by popular vote in each state, and each state has as many "Grand Electors" he has in the House of Representatives of Congress + the number of invariable two senators, the number of representatives depends on the size of the population of the state (William, 240).

Political parties nominate their Electors in the state political conventions. An elector cannot be part of being a member of Congress or a federal office. The Electors shall meet the first Monday following the second Wednesday in December to officially elect the President and the Vice-President of the United States. The only condition imposed by the Constitution is the requirement for them to vote for at least one candidate who is not from their state (Boix, 609).

The U.S. electoral system is as traditional and archaic that what counts is not the popular vote but the electoral votes, i.e. the number of people representing each state, go to Washington to vote for either candidate. Each state has its thing when it comes to transform themselves in popular votes.

So popular vote surveys are interesting, but do little to see where you can go play. There have been cases in which the popular-vote winner not won in electoral votes and sloppy rigging aside that's what happened to Al Gore and to George W Bush. No one disputes that they first won the popular vote (Moore, 254).

The Electoral College is the body of elected commissioners responsible for choosing the President and Vice President of the United States. Since 1964, the Electoral College has 538 electors. In 2008, this selection was made on 15 December. The Electoral ...