An introduction to the U.S. electoral system, which is held every few years

When the United States was founded 200 years ago, the sages of the United States designed the electoral system, and the main purpose at that time was to prevent politicians from making false promises to voters to cheat votes, and electors indirectly elected** to avoid malpractice. But today that meaning has disappeared, it has nothing to do with indirect elections, and there are no actual electors, only electoral votes. This system is mainly to respect the rights of the states, and it is the embodiment of the decentralization of American democracy and respect for the rights of local states.

The total number of electoral votes in the United States is 538, which is the total number of senators (100), representatives (435), and Washington, D.C. (3). Senators are distributed by state, with 2 from each of the 50 states; Members of the House of Representatives are elected according to population, with one elected from more than 500,000 people. For example, New York State, with a population of more than 16 million, has 31 members of the House of Representatives, plus 2 senators, for a total of 33 electoral votes.

According to the electoral vote system, if any candidate wins the majority vote in this state, even if he wins all the electoral votes in this state, it is called winner-takes-all. A candidate is elected when he or she has won more than half of the 538 electoral votes (270) in each state. Since the winner-takes-all calculation is adopted, it is possible that the candidate wins the national capitation vote, but loses because the electoral vote is not more than half.

For example, in 2000, Democratic candidate Gorre had 500,000 more votes than Republican candidate Bush, but because Bush won hundreds of votes in Florida, Bush won all 25 electoral votes in the state according to the winner-takes-all principle, thus making him more than half of the country's electoral votes and elected.

Lawyer's analysis: The U.S. electoral system is generally held every four years.

Legal basis]:

Election Law of the People's Republic of China" Article 26 Voter registration is conducted by constituency district, and the voter qualifications of blind hail are confirmed to be valid for a long time after registration. Before each election, voters who have reached the age of 18 since the last voter registration and whose political rights have been restored after the period of deprivation of political rights shall be registered.

Voters who have moved out of their original constituencies after registration shall be included in the list of voters in the former orange of the newly moved constituency; Those who have died and those who have been deprived of their political rights in accordance with the law shall be removed from the voters' list.

Mentally ill persons who are unable to exercise their right to vote are not to be included in the voter list upon confirmation by the Election Commission.

(1) The two parties take turns in power. The Republican and Democratic parties have long alternated in power. In the United States, although there are some other small parties, they cannot shake the position of the two big parties. This "seesaw game" between the two major political parties has become one of the characteristics of the American political system.

2) Separation of powers. The United States practices the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances, and the legislative, executive, and judicial powers are respectively in the hands of Congress, the President, and the courts. Because the United States, which entered the capitalist system without going through feudal society, is different from Britain and France, so although the division of rights was proposed by Montesquieu of France and cited by the major capitalist countries in Europe, it is the United States that is the most thorough, and its 1787 constitution clearly puts forward the principle of the separation of powers.

3) Interest groups. The purpose of the existence of interest groups in the United States is to maximize the interests of interest groups by exerting pressure on policymakers to influence the formulation of public policy.

The participation of interest groups in politics is a distinctive feature of American politics. Interest groups are a basic force in the US political process, and their position in US political life is mainly manifested in their comprehensive infiltration into the US political process and their extensive involvement in the decision-making process. The positive role of interest groups in participating in the political process is conducive to promoting scientific and democratic decision-making, promoting social balance and social constraints, political communication and expression of interests, and alleviating social conflicts and maintaining long-term social stability. The negative impact of interest group participation in politics is that it can easily lead to political corruption, exacerbate social inequality, weaken the authority of the state and lead to inefficiency, and harm the national interest and public interest.

The political system of the United States is a country with a first-class system, and in its early power structure, there was no factor of political parties, but in the later political competition, political parties continued to play an increasingly important role in it.

Its main features are:

1. **Candidates are recommended by political parties.

2. The United States is a typical two-party country.

3. Members of the U.S. Congress, i.e., the House of Representatives and the Senate, are generally recommended by political parties to run for election, are directly elected by referendum, and have legislative power.

4. Although the United States is nominally the leader of his party, after being elected, he appears more as a "national leader", and the United States is not elected by Congress, and he is not responsible to Congress.

5. The advantages of this model of political system are: the United States has greater power, less restraint from political parties, and greater independence, which is conducive to making political decisions relatively quickly and improving the efficiency of governance. Its weaknesses are:

The mutual restraint and containment of the three major power systems in the United States are obvious, resulting in the attrition of some systems.

The American people directly elect their own **, deputies and congressmen, so the characteristic is self. by, justice, truth and people. The election of the Lord.

The election is long and the procedure is cumbersome.

Elections became a game of bipartisanship.

Money politics, legal bribery.

Content from user: Koala Library.

Chapter 1: The U.S. Electoral System] In general, the current U.S. elections need to go through the following four stages: candidate nomination, campaigning, election of electors, and finally electors voting.

1. Nomination of candidates: Generally, in June of the ** election year, political parties are represented by the states to participate in the national convention, at which they nominate ** candidates. , whose role is to elect the electors of each state to form the Electoral College to determine the attribution of the electoral votes in that state.

Therefore, it can be said that the United States is not directly elected by the citizens of the United States. This system can be simply understood as follows: U.S. citizens elect electors [i.e., super representatives] who are directly participating in the election** in their state, and then vote as representatives, and the votes cast by these electors participating in the direct election are electoral votes.

All of the United States"Electoral votes"A total of 538 is the total number of senators, representatives, and representatives of Washington, D.C. Senators are distributed by state, with 2 from each of the 50 states; The House of Representatives is elected by population, and about 700,000 people elect a super-representative. [Part 2:.]

What kind of ** electoral system does the United States have] The United States has a ** system, and **elections are held every four years. The electoral system in the United States is complex and the process is long. The main procedures of the election include a caucus, a national convention of each party to determine the candidate, a candidate campaign, a national vote by voters, a vote in the Electoral College and the inauguration of the elector.

The caucuses are the first phase of elections in the United States, usually starting at the beginning of an election year and ending in the middle of the year. In the meantime, candidates from various parties will compete for the nomination of their party's ** candidates. There are two forms of caucuses, which are party grassroots meetings and direct caucuses.

The former refers to the bottom-up meetings of the two parties in each state, from the polling point, county, constituency to the state, and finally elects the party's delegates to the national convention. The latter in shape.

According to the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. ** elects the Electoral College. Since the Electoral College system was first introduced in 1788, it has undergone more than 200 years of development and evolution.

The Electoral College system states that the United States** is elected by the Electoral College elected by each state legislature, rather than by the voters directly. **Candidates are elected if they receive more than half of the total 538 electoral votes (more than 270) in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Each state in the United States has the same number of electoral votes as the number of senators and representatives that state has in Congress. According to the regulations, the U.S. Senate is composed of two members elected from each state, while the number of members of the House of Representatives is determined according to the proportion of the population of each state. As a result, states with large populations produce more members of the House of Representatives and have more electoral votes at the time of the election.

For example, California, the most populous state, has as many as 55 electoral votes, while Alaska, which has a smaller population, has only 3 electoral votes. In view of this situation, in previous elections, states with large populations have become important targets for candidates.

The number of electoral votes, reflecting the principle of equality of states, is determined by the number of members of each state in Congress. For example, each state has 2 senators and at least 1 representative in Congress, so any state has at least 3 votes. But in a large state with a large population, in addition to these three votes, the more members of the House of Representatives, the more electoral votes.

In 1961, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution approved that Washington, D.C., could have ** electors like states. Thus, there are 100 senators in the US Congress, 435 members of the House of Representatives, plus 3 votes in Washington, D.C., for a total of 538 electoral votes.

The Electoral College system also stipulates that, except for Maine and Nebraska, where electoral votes are distributed in proportion to the popular vote, the remaining 48 states and Washington, D.C., all of the electoral votes in their own states are given to the ** candidate who has obtained a relative majority of the popular vote in the state. Because the number of electoral votes varies from state to state, it is possible that the candidate who accumulates the most votes in the national general election will not win the election. This has happened many times in the history of the United States, where some ** candidates have received fewer popular votes than their competitors, but have been elected because they have received more electoral votes.

The U.S. Constitution also provides that if all candidates fail to obtain more than half of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives will elect the top three candidates with the most votes**. In 1824, John Quincy Adams was designated as ** after a final vote by the House of Representatives.

The Electoral College system is the product of the combination of the American republic, federalism, and the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, and it is also the result of compromise and coordination among multiple interests, so it must have its own shortcomings and drawbacks that are difficult to overcome. In recent years, the United States has been calling for reform of the Electoral College system, but due to a variety of obstacles, the reform has not been carried out.

The United States** elects an electoral college system. Voters in each state vote on the electors list proposed by each party in the state; The elected state electors form the Electoral College, which is formally elected in December**. In other words, electors are entrusted by voters to vote, but their voting intentions are determined in advance by the voters, and voting in the Electoral College is a routine matter.

The number of electoral votes in each state depends on the population of each state. The vast majority of states and capitals in the United States have a winner-takes-all system, in which the person who receives the most votes in one state or capital receives all the electoral votes in that state or capital. Candidates who win 270 or more electoral votes win the election.

The national voter poll in the United States is held on the first Tuesday of November of the election year, and this day is known as **** day. All U.S. voters go to their designated places to cast their ballots and choose between two ** candidates (the ** "electors" of each state are elected on the same ballot). If a candidate wins a state's election, he has all the "electoral" votes of that state, which is the statewide election system (with the exception of 2 states, where electoral votes are distributed according to the percentage of votes won by the candidates).

National Voter Polling Day is also called **** Day. California, the most populous state in the United States, has as many as 55 electoral votes, while the less populous state of Alaska has only three. In view of this situation, in previous elections in the United States, states with large populations have become important targets for candidates.

This has happened several times in the history of the United States, where some candidates have received fewer votes than their opponents have been elected because they have received enough electoral votes.

In addition to the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, other small parties such as small parties can also participate in the ** election, but their support rate is very low, in any state in the United States, it is impossible to have a majority of the votes, and the "electoral vote" can only be zero in the end.

The Electoral College system is that when voters cast their ballots on ** day, they must not only choose among the ** candidates, but also elect 538 electors representing 50 states and Washington, D.C., to form the Electoral College. The vast majority of states and Washington, D.C., have a "winner-takes-all" rule, in which all electoral votes in their state or D.C. are given to the ** candidate who receives a relative majority of votes in his state or D.C. Elected electors must take an oath to vote for the candidate who wins in the state at the time of the Electoral College ballot.

Therefore, the result is usually on the day of the polling day.