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Presidents Election Process
The president's election process in the United States is through indirect elections where the voters actually vote for electors of the Electoral College, and the electors are the ones then who elect the President and his Vice President. |
The elections for the president and vice president occur every 4 years in the US on Election Day, which the Tuesday that comes between November 2 and November 8. In 2008, Election Day was on November 4, and the next Election Day is on November 6, 2012.
President's election process is governed by state and federal laws. Each state in the US has a specific number of Electoral College electors. This number is equal to the number of Senators and Representatives in a state. Washington DC is the only exception where the number of electors is equal to the number of electors that are present in the smallest states. The US Territories do not have Electoral College.
As per the US Constitution, each state is allowed to have its own method of choosing electors. Therefore, on Election Day, the states conduct the election and not the federal government. Once the electors are elected, they have the right vote for anyone, but under normal circumstances, the electors vote for the chosen presidential candidate. The Congress then certifies the vote of the electors in the beginning of January. The Congress is the final judge of the electors.
The primary elections and the nominating convention that parties have are not mentioned in the US Constitution. However, these processes were developed by the states and the political parties.
In the US, president's nominating procedure is held in two parts. The first part is a number of primary elections and caucuses which are held in each state, and the second part is the nominating convention that is held by each political party. This is the process that different political parties take to weed out potential wannabes and is not mentioned in the US Constitution.
The primary elections and the caucuses are held by the state and local governments. Some states hold just the primary elections, some hold just the caucuses, while others hold both. The primary elections and the caucuses are held between January and June before the Election Day. The first state caucus is held in Iowa and the first primary election is held in New Hampshire.
When voters vote in the primary elections and caucuses, they are actually giving the right to the selected elector to vote for the candidate nominated at the presidential nominating convention.
The Democratic Party and Republican Party also have top officials and party leaders who are the undecided electors. These are known as unpledged delegates who vote for anyone they want. In other words, these are the delegates who will vote for a presidential candidate they like and want.
As mentioned earlier, the electors for the Electoral College are shown by the laws of each state. Therefore, each state also holds its own popular election on the Election Day. Therefore, it can be said that the president's election process in the United States is a combination of separate and concurrent state elections instead of a single election held all over the country.
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