In the United States of America, the office of the President is determined every 4 years by secret ballot in a national election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Any citizen the age of 18 and over can vote. It is a constitutional right, a responsibility, and your civic duty to elect the President and be involved in how the United States operates.
The process leading up to election day is long and tedious; not as straight forward as it may appear. Candidates register with a political party, such as the republican, democratic, libertarian, green, constitutional, alliance parties, to name a few. The candidate who runs to be the next president of the United States must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years, must be a natural born citizen of the United States and must be at least 35 years old.
Candidates campaign for years to win the nomination to be on the ballot for the President of the United States. They travel around the country speaking at rallies. They make television, radio, newspaper, and Internet Advertisements. They have televised debates with the other parties’ candidate(s).
Important topics Americans need to discuss and understand are the economy, the budget, immigration, education, firearms, healthcare, the environment, national Defense, free trade, religion, civil rights.
When you are making your choice consider that both parties are biased against the other parties’ candidate. Media is biased for or against a candidate. In your research consider news sources that have differing opinions about the candidates. Listen to both sides. Both sides exaggerate differences, and each accuses the other of untrue events.
Once a candidate registers for a party the nominee is selected in each state’s primary by a private ballot. Citizens of each party vote for their parties’ representative to be the presidential candidate. Four states vote for the party candidate by caucus. A caucus is a group of citizens in the state who determine their choice of candidate to run for President.
Both political parties attend national conventions to formally choose their candidate for President. The candidate with the most votes is awarded the nomination. The Presidential candidate then chooses a running mate to serve as vice president.
On election day (The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November) the individual who wins the majority + 1 (270) of electoral votes becomes the next president-elect. After the polls close on election day each state awards the electoral votes to the candidate who won the most votes in that state. The candidate with at least 270 votes is the president-elect.
It is exceedingly rare that both candidates has less than 270 votes. When this occurs, the vote goes to the House of Representatives where each state gets one vote to decide who would be the next president. Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams were the only two presidents chosen by the House of Representatives.
The electoral vote system exists because some states have disproportionally more residents than other states making it possible for a small number of states to control election results. The electoral vote system helps equalize individual state results. States with smaller populations matter.
When you are making your choice consider that both parties are biased against the other parties’ candidate.
Consider news sources that have differing opinions about the candidates. Both sides exaggerate differences, and each accuses the other of untrue events. I recall a campaign ad years ago featuring a hydrogen bomb explosion and implying that Barry Goldwater would bring on a nuclear WWIII. The ad was absolutely untrue; however, it was an ad that influenced the outcome.
Most presidents have been vice presidents, governors, or senators. Ronald Regan was an actor and a governor.
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