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< Back to current issue of Immigrant's Weekly The US Election Process
In the United States the president and vice president are the only
government officials elected in a nationwide election. Contrary to popular
belief, the president and vice president are not elected directly by the
American people but by an electoral college which is a group of electors
chosen within each state. The framers of the Constitution decided that
through the electoral college they would be able to prevent voting
corruption. The electors can use their own discretion in voting for a
candidate but most electors pledge to support a party’s candidate and base
their vote on the popular vote in their state. This system makes it possible
for candidates to win an election by winning the majority of the electoral
vote even if they receive fewer popular votes than their opponents. So when
one goes to the polls and selects their ballot for president, he is
actually voting for electors. It is then the electors who will cast
the votes and decide who will be the next US president and vice president.
In order to vote in a US election a person must be a US citizen over the age
of 18. To run for the US presidency, the Constitution states that
a person must be a natural-born citizen of the US who is at least 35 years
old and has resided in the US for 14 years. Election day is held on the
first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The nation will know who
has won the election by that evening or by the next morning. However the
electoral college does not formally cast their ballots until they meet in
each state on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. Even
though the president and vice president are elected in November, they will
not take office until after the inauguation ceremony which is held on
January 20th.
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