Elections
Of all the freedoms afforded by the constitution, the right to vote for one's government is one of the most important
rights given to a citizen of the United States of America. The electoral process
gives us the assurance that no leader can have control for an extended amount of time,
and assures that if a Representative or Senator is not making decisions that
please his or her constituency, the people can choose a new one that will.
The electoral process is carried out by the individual states based
on state law. The right to select Representatives and Senators is given to
the states by Sections 2 and 4 of
Article I of the Constitution. Section 1 of
Article II gives the states the right to choose their Electors in Federal elections
for President and Vice-President. These Electors make up the 'Electoral College':
the body that formally elects the leaders that the people have chosen.
Presidential Elections (The Electoral College) The Electoral College is coordinated by the Office of the Federal Register. It is comprised of 538 Electors, equal to the number of Representatives and Senators that currently make up Congress. The Electors are divided up by the amount of Senators and Representatives that each state currently has, and the divisions are amended every 10 years with the analysis of the national Census.
Voters in each state vote for slates of Electors. 48 of the 50 states (and D.C.) have a "winner-take-all" system, with Maine and Nebraska being the exceptions. There is no federal law that states that the electors are bound to a certain candidate, however 26 states have developed certain laws on their own. After each state has submitted their Electors' votes, the votes are counted and a President and Vice-President are named. Usually, the Electoral College emerges with a winner identical to the U.S. popular vote. However, in 2000, Vice-President Al Gore won the popular vote and President George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote.
State Elections
It has been left up to the States to
decide how to carry out their elections for Representatives, Senators
and electors. Each state may have a different structure of administrative
offices running the elections, and may have different rules as to when, where
and how citizens may vote. Representatives have always been elected directly
by the people, however, it was not until the 17th
Amendment was passed that the election of Senators was passed from the
state government to the people. In federal elections, the people vote for
Electors, who formally elect the President and Vice-President.
Election Law Changes
From the initial ratification of the Constitution, election law has been clarified
and changed to an extremely large extent. Seven amendments have been passed
that in some way alter the process of electing leadership in the United States.
The 12th
Amendment clarifies the procedure to follow if an outcome of a Presidential
election is not easily obtained. The 15th and 19th Amendments
assured that people could not be denied the right to vote based on race or
gender. The 17th
Amendment gives the privilege of choosing Senators to the people as opposed
to State Legislatures, where it was previously held. The 23rd
Amendment created a process of voting in the Presidential election for
citizens of Washington D.C; the 24th
Amendment eliminated Poll Taxes and the 26th
Amendment set the voting age at 18.
More recent developments have created regulations for military
personnel and overseas citizens to vote, in addition for providing help
for elderly
and handicapped voters. In 1993, the "motor
voter" law was created, enabling citizens to register to vote when
they are applying for their drivers license.
Campaign Reform
The desire to change
the way campaign funds are collected and used has been led by members of both major parties . In 2002, the Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act was signed into law. Immediately following the laws
signing, the Constitutionality of the law was challenged, and was subsequently
brought through the Judicial system to the Supreme Court. In 2003, the Court
upheld and struck down different sections of the Act.
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