The Electoral System

The states is a republican country which means the people hold the power and they elect people to decide what to do with it. It is also a federal country, which means that the powers are divided between the central government and the individual states. The electoral system has changed a lot over the years. Each state elects a governor and politicians to sit in the senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has 435 members and are elected for two years. In the senate there is two from every state and they are elected for six years.

The Elections:

The election happens every two year but once every fourth year there is a presidential election and the congressional election is held at the same time.

The President election:

The president is elected every fourth year, but can’t serve for more than two years. The president is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and it is only the president who can declare war. The president must be an American citizen and at least 35 years old and at least a resident of the United States for 14 years.

The Race for the Presidency:

The first step of the “race” is when a candidate makes a decision to enter the election. A big step of that is to find out how much support he is going to get. Only the official candidates can qualify for federal financial assistance and only they are allowed to use lots of money to support their campaigns. The candidates fight to win a large number of votes. The official election campaign of the two candidates starts in mid-summer and ends at Election Day in November. And of course you have to be 18 or older to vote. And then the new president will be sworn into office on January 20. Many people think that the next Presidential race begins at that time but that’s not right.