Since the conclusion of the 2020 election, I was curious about all of the in’s and out’s of the electoral process in the United States. There is a lot more to this process than I had thought and I think it is important for other people to get a better understanding of the process as well. Understanding how people are voted into office and the process they take is beneficial in being educated about those serving in office.

Presidential Election Process in the United States

Every four years in the United States a president is elected to run the country. In a nation that prides itself upon its democratic principles, the presidential election is an event that the entire country pays close attention to. Presidential elections allow residents of the U.S. to exercise their right to vote for who they believe is best fit to run the country. In order to become elected president, there are many steps that each candidate has to go through in order to be elected for their potential four-year term in office. With the results from the recent election solidified, I wanted to expand my knowledge on the process it takes to become elected.  There are certain qualifications each individual must have as well as four main steps to be voted in. Those four main steps include primaries and caucuses, national conventions, the general election, and the electoral colleges votes.

Since July 4^th, 1776, the United States has established itself as a powerful democratic society that has seen great success and great failures. According to the definition provided by merriam-webster.com democracy is defined as, “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections”(Democracy). Being a country that is for the people, it is only right to have one of the people run the nation. In order to be president each candidate must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a U.S. resident of 14 years (Qualifications for the Office of President). If the individual running for president meets these minimum requirements, they are eligible to be a candidate to be elected.

If a person is eligible to be president, they will then move into a process where members of each political party decide who they think would be best fit for the position. This happens over a year before the actual election begins. A caucus is an event that is put on by political parties where groups of people affiliated with their respective party discuss who would be the best candidate to run the country. According to Bill of Rights Institute, after the meeting concludes delegates to a county or state pledge their support to the candidate with the majority vote. These delegates will then continue on to select delegates to the national convention and eventually select a candidate from that party to run for office (Primaries and Caucuses). A primary is an event that is statewide put on by the state government. Members of the state cast a secret ballot for the person they believe is best fit. The winner receives the majority of the delegates for the nominating convention (Primaries and Caucuses). These events happen so far ahead of the election in order for candidates to get a feel for their support they will receive before their candidacy actually begins.

After caucuses and primaries conclude, each party hosts national conventions. The national conventions are when each political party nominates a presidential candidate for the next four years (Presidential Election Process). The national committee for each party decides when the convention will take place, usually in July or August just months before the election day. Each party will also decide where the convention will take place. In recent years national conventions are not as important as they used to be in selecting nominees. However, they still provide important roles such as approving the selection of presidential nominees, approve vice-presidential nominees, adopt party platforms, adopt rules that govern the parties for the next four years, and get everyone on the same page for the campaign (DeLaney, Ann). This is a great time for notable leaders of respective parties to unify the party and get members on the same page.

After primaries, caucuses, and the national conventions the candidate selected from each party begins to campaign across the country to attempt to win the support of the population. This is done through visiting cities, advertisements, and hosting rallies where supporters listen to the candidate speak. The campaign is a big part of the election process that leads into the general election. The general election is when people across every state vote for the candidates they feel are best fit to be president and vice president (General Election). This election process can be done before the actual election date in early November, but that is a decision that is left up to the states to make. Citizens can vote via early voting, mail-in ballots, or going to the polls the day of election. This allows registered voters to exercise their right as an American and have their voice heard by voting.

Now, after all of those steps are completed the election goes into the electoral college. To some, the electoral college can be a bit confusing. According to usa.gov, the electoral college system gives each state a certain number of electors based upon their representation in congress. The number of electoral votes per state can vary from 3 votes to 55. In total, there is 538 electoral votes amongst the 50 states (Presidential Election Process). The magic number to reach in order solidify the candidate’s victory is 270 votes in the electoral college. Once a candidate reaches 270 electoral college votes, they will be the newly elected president and vice president (Presidential Election Process). They will be inaugurated soon after in January as the next president and vice president.

As one of the most powerful countries in the world, the United States prides itself on its democratic process. Allowing citizens to vote for who they believe is best fit to run the country is something other countries do not have. Being able to exercise that right is what separates America from other nations. Because of the importance of the job, running for president is a strenuous process that has many requirements and steps to become the leader of our country. This job has minimum citizenship requirements, caucus and primary events, national conventions, campaigning, fundraising, general election, and winning the magic number of electoral college votes. Becoming President of the United States is not an easy task, but in the end, we do not want just anybody running our country.

Quiz Questions:

Who organizes the caucus events before the election?

1. Governors
2. Mayors
3. Political Parties

How many electoral votes does it take to win the election?

1. 270
2. 538

c.423

How many TOTAL electoral votes are there?

1. 270

b.538

c.432

 

References:

 

“Presidential Election Process.” USAGov, 13 July 2020, www.usa.gov/election#:~:text=Instead, presidential elections use the,Senate chooses the vice president.

 

“Democracy.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy.

 

“Qualifications for the Office of President.” Qualifications and Requirements for the Office of President of the United States, www.presidentsusa.net/qualifications.html.

 

“Primaries and Caucuses.” Bill of Rights Institute, 23 Sept. 2015, billofrightsinstitute.org/engage/student-resources/think-the-vote/primaries-and-caucuses/.

 

DeLaney, Ann, “National Party Conventions.” Dummies, www.dummies.com/education/politics-government/national-party-conventions/.

 

“General Election.” U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Thailand, 27 Aug. 2020, th.usembassy.gov/summary-of-the-u-s-presidential-election-process/general-election/.

 

 

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