ELECTORAL PROCESS

Electoral process which in other words the systematic application of voting to conduct elections is the method by which citizens of United States of America elect their ideal candidate for all levels of the legislative body. Specified as the term of office during which elected candidates service at the government offices, this methodology implied by democracies across the world operate almost on the same viable concept of by the people, for the people and of the people.

The system of government that exists in America is called the representative democracy in which citizens elect a leader of their choice to govern over them and the country in an ethical manner. A majority of elections are held during the month of November every first Tuesday after the first Monday but depending on state laws, elections for public offices may vary.

 The electoral process which is based on the constitution written in 1787 denied access to women to vote but after centuries, it had underwent major changes to suit the contemporary policies of the state.

Surprisingly in a gender non-biased country like America, women were not allowed to vote until 1920 and Afro Americans were guaranteed full rights only during the same decade. The 26^th amendment of the constitution adopted in 1971 declares that anyone over 18 years of age are eligible to take part in the electoral process. The congress also passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 based on which it can interfere when any individual in U.S. is denied access to vote, especially is cases of ethnicity issues.

According to statistics, about 60 per cent of Americans turn up to vote for Presidential elections while it goes relatively low for local elections. The two leading parties of the country are the Democratic party and the Republican party which holds a major share of supporters. However, other parties including Independent party, Reform Party, Libertarian Party, Green Party, Socialist Party and others do prevail.  

The electoral process differ according to the elections held, like for presidency elections people vote directly for the elector who represents the candidate. The electors chosen by each state are referred to as the Electoral College. They will vote for the candidate who was represented earlier by them to become the President. Number of votes varies according to the size of the state and a President is officially chosen only when he has majority in the states supported by their electors. Only during the U.S. Senate and Congress meet, the vice president unveils the envelope to officially announce the President.

 Questions:

• How is the election process initiated and convened?
• What are the steps involved in electoral process?