Elections in the United States
In the politics of the United States, elections are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected by the people of each state. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages; as well as for special districts and school districts which may transcend county and municipal boundaries.
For the most recent elections, see 2023 United States elections. For the upcoming elections, see 2024 United States elections.
The country's election system is highly decentralized.[1] While the U.S. Constitution does set parameters for the election of federal officials, state law, not federal, regulates most aspects of elections in the U.S., including primary elections, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional definition), the running of each state's electoral college, as well as the running of state and local elections. All elections—federal, state, and local—are administered by the individual states,[2] with many aspects of the system's operations delegated to the county or local level.[1]
Under federal law, the general elections of the president and Congress occur on Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday of November. These federal general elections are held in even-numbered years, with presidential elections occurring every four years, and congressional elections occurring every two years. The general elections that are held two years after the presidential ones are referred to as the midterm elections. General elections for state and local offices are held at the discretion of the individual state and local governments, with many of these races coinciding with either presidential or midterm elections as a matter of convenience and cost saving, while other state and local races may occur during odd-numbered "off years". The date when primary elections for federal, state, and local races occur are also at the discretion of the individual state and local governments; presidential primaries in particular have historically been staggered between the states, beginning sometime in January or February, and ending about mid-June before the November general election.
The restriction and extension of voting rights to different groups has been a contested process throughout United States history. The federal government has also been involved in attempts to increase voter turnout, by measures such as the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The financing of elections has also long been controversial, because private sources make up substantial amounts of campaign contributions, especially in federal elections. Voluntary public funding for candidates willing to accept spending limits was introduced in 1974 for presidential primaries and elections. The Federal Elections Commission, created in 1975 by an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act, has the responsibility to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of U.S. presidential elections.
Features of the election system[edit]
Multiple levels of regulation[edit]
In the US, elections are actually conducted by local authorities, working under local, state, and federal law and regulation, as well as the US Constitution. It is a highly decentralized system.[1]
In around half of US states, the secretary of state is the official in charge of elections; in other states it is someone appointed for the job, or a commission.[1] It is this person or commission who is responsible for certifying, tabulating, and reporting votes for the state.[1]
Election information on the web[edit]
In most states of the U.S., the chief election officer is the secretary of state. In some states, local officials like a county registrar of voters or supervisor of elections manages the conduct of elections under the supervision of (or in coordination with) the chief election officer of the state. Many of these state and county offices have web sites that provide information to help voters obtain information on their polling places for each election, the various districts to which they belong (e.g., House and Senate districts in the state and federal legislature, school boards, water districts, municipalities, etc.), as well as dates of elections and deadlines to file to run or register to vote. Some allow voters to download a sample ballot in advance of the election.
Beyond this, various media outlets provide information they think will interest their audience.
More systematic coverage is provided by websites devoted specifically to collecting election information and making it available to the public. Two of the better known such sites are Ballotpedia and Vote Smart. These are run by non-profit, non-partisan organizations. They have paid staffs and are much more tightly controlled than Wikipedia.
USElections.com[44] tries to provide similar information but relies on volunteers in a way that is more like Wikipedia than Ballotpedia and Vote Smart.
The website 270towin provides actual electoral college maps (both current and historic) but also the ability to use an interactive map in order to make election predictions. Ongoing election news is reported as well as data on Senate and House races.[45]
OpenSecrets provides election information focusing on campaign finance.