Featured Election: US Presidential Election 2008

For those of you who would appreciate a brief overview of the United States voting system for electing its president, we are providing a simple non-academic explanation that we trust will be helpful. Every four years the process starts with a candidate’s decision to seek the nomination of a political party to run for President.

To have a realistic chance of becoming president, individuals must seek the nomination of one of the two dominant parties: the conservative-leaning Republican Party and the liberal-leaning Democratic Party. Candidates seeking the nomination of one of these two parties engage in an intense round of fundraising and political campaigning before the official process begins.

Once the official process begins the voters in certain states (the 50 governmental subdivisions of the United States) begin to determine which candidate will receive the nomination in selection mechanisms called primaries (direct voter participation) or caucuses (meetings of party members). Each participating state awards delegates based on the outcome of the primary or caucus. In turn the parties hold nominating conventions in late summer to convene the delegates selected by the states. These delegates vote and the candidate with enough delegates wins the nomination.

The winning candidate chooses a person to be his or her vice-president, the second highest office in the country. The candidate and his vice-presidential choice from each party then start the campaign for the presidency. With an unofficial start in early September, the two teams of candidates (or tickets as they are called) engage in head to head campaigning until Election Day on the first Tuesday of November. For this presidential cycle the election will be on November 4, 2008.

On Election Day eligible voters in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia cast their ballots. US citizens and soldiers living abroad can cast absentee ballots by mail prior to Election Day. Once all the ballots have been cast, the votes are counted in each state and the new president is elected in an indirect manner. Namely, each state and the District of Columbia are awarded a number of electors based on population. When voting the voters decide who will be the electors and these electors are in turn morally bound to vote for the president and party to which they aligned themselves at the time of the vote. In January of the following year the electors meet and elect the new president. The president then takes office on the third Monday in January.

For a more academic explanation, please consult the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008

http://usinfo.state.gov/politics/elections/