LibGuides: Election 2020: The U.S. Election System

Federal Elections: How Do They Work?

The Constitution established the following guidelines for federal elections:

House of Representatives: Members serve for 2 years; they are elected by popular vote.
Senate: Members serve for 6 years. These terms are staggered so that one-third of Senate seats are open for election every 2 years. Article I directed that senators be selected by state legislatures. The 17th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, transformed this process to direct election by voters, the same system used to elect members of the House.
President: The chief executive is limited to two 4-year terms. Although people vote for their preferred candidate, the winner is actually determined by the Electoral College, which is explained in another box. Each party selects a presidential and vice presidential candidate who run as a team, a system that emerged following the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804.

Although the Constitution established the foundations for federal elections, specific laws and rules that shape the actual voting process and determine who is eligible to vote are created by the individual states. However, the federal government can challenge and sometimes overrule state election policies that it considers unconstitutional.

The following links and video provide more detailed explanations of federal elections.

U.S. Presidential Elections A web page from The History Channel that provides an overview of all presidential elections from 1789-2008, along with videos and photos.
2016 House of Representatives Election An overview of the House elections, with an interactive electoral map.
U.S. Election Resources A Library of Congress web page that lists a number of valuable print and online resources that are available to the public.

Constitutional Amendments and Elections

The Constitution created the formal structure of the federal government, and it established the original rules governing national elections. Since its ratification, however, it has been amended numerous times in ways that fundamentally affect national elections. Perhaps the most significant amendments were those that extended the right to vote to populations such as women and people aged 18-21. Other amendments altered the mechanisms by which senators are elected and limited the president to two terms.

12th Amendment Ratified in 1804, the 12th Amendment changed the Electoral College system by requiring Electors to nominate separate presidential and vice presidential candidates. Previously the two candidates who received the most Electoral votes were named president and vice president, respectively, even if they were from different parties.
15th Amendment Ratified in 1870, the 15th Amendment outlawed any policies designed to deny the right to vote to former slaves and their descendants. Along with the 13th and 14th Amendments, the 15th Amendment was one of the "Reconstruction Amendments" ratified in the years following the Civil War.
17th Amendment Ratified in 1913 during the Progressive Era, the 17th Amendment provided for direct election of U.S. senators.
19th Amendment Ratified in 1920, the 19th Amendment recognized the right of women to vote, just months prior to the 1920 presidential election.
22nd Amendment Ratified in 1951, the 22nd Amendment limits the president to a maximum of two 4-year terms. This amendment was approved following the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. (He died in office in 1945.)
24th Amendment Ratified in 1964 as an element of the Civil Rights Movement, the 24th Amendment prohibited states from requiring residents to pay a tax or fee in order to vote in national elections. Several southern states had established a poll tax to prevent Black and low-income White people from voting, thereby circumventing the 14th and 15th Amendments. Two years later the Supreme Court extended this prohibition to all elections.
26th Amendment Ratified in 1971, the 26th Amendment lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18. As a result, most college students are now legally eligible to vote. The first presidential election in which 18-21-year-olds could vote was 1972, when Republican Richard Nixon was reelected in a landslide victory over Democrat George McGovern, despite McGovern's popularity among young voters.

Laws, Court Rulings, and Elections

The Constitution established the basic rules governing federal elections. Specific policies regarding voter eligibility and restrictions, congressional voting districts, and campaign contributions have evolved over the years. Below is a list of national laws and judicial rulings that have helped to shape our electoral system. Click on each link for more information.

Williams v. Mississippi An 1898 Supreme Court decision that upheld the use of literacy tests and poll taxes by southern states to prevent African Americans from voting.
Baker v. Carr This 1962 decision ruled that the Supreme Court could determine whether the structure of state congressional districts is constitutional. It paved the way for the "one person, one vote" principle.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Click here to access a YouTube video that recounts the background and passage of the landmark law that outlawed the practices that southern states had employed to prevent certain groups, most prominently African Americans, from voting.
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 A federal law that established guidelines for contributions and disclosure in presidential and congressional elections. A 1974 amendment established the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to oversee the enforcement of the law.
Buckley v. Valeo A 1976 Supreme Court decision that ruled that limiting the amount of money a candidate can spend constitutes a violation of free speech. However, it did uphold limits on campaign contributions.
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold) A 2002 law that amended the FECA to ban the use of "soft money" in federal elections. It is generally known as the McCain-Feingold Act due to its key sponsors, Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold.
Citizens United v. FEC A 2010 Supreme Court decision that declared unconstitutional federal and state restrictions on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions.
Shelby County v. Holder A 2013 Supreme Court decision that negated some of the key enforcement provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Electing the President: The Electoral College

When voters go to the polls on Election Day to choose their president, they are actually selecting their state's electors, who determine which candidate wins the White House. The Electoral College was established by Article II, Section I, as an alternative to the direct election of the president. The number of electors for each state equals their total congressional representation; that is, the combined number of senators and representatives. Technically, then, the objective of a presidential election is to win the majority of electoral votes, which currently totals 270. In 2012, Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney 332-206.

Although the majority of candidates who have won the popular vote have also won the Electoral College, three presidents have been elected who did not receive the most popular votes. The most recent was Republican George W. Bush, who won the 2000 election although his opponent, Democrat Al Gore, won the popular vote.

The following links and videos explain how the Electoral College works.

The Electoral College A web page from The History Channel that provides an overview of the Electoral College, including videos and photographs.
How the Electoral College Works A historical overview of the Electoral College from How Stuff Works.
Results 2012 A map created by the Washington Post that highlights the electoral votes in the 2012 election.

Primary Elections

Most federal elections involve a contest between a Democratic and a Republican candidate. However, in many elections, particularly presidential contests, several candidates from both parties vie for open seats. The parties then hold primary elections to eliminate all but one candidate. Each state schedules its primaries, although multiple states frequently schedule them for the same date. The most prominent example is "Super Tuesday," usually in March, where as many as a dozen states hold either primary elections or caucuses.

Most primary elections fall into one of two categories: closed and open. In a closed primary, only members of a particular party can vote in that party's primary. In contrast, an open primary is open to all voters.

Watch the video below for a comprehensive explanation of how the primary system works.

Party Platforms

In every presidential election year, each party creates an official statement of its core principles, known as a party platform. The platform is composed of a series of "planks," which present the party's positions on specific issues.

The candidates are not technically required to adhere to their party's platform. Their failure to do so, however, can lead to conflicts and controversies within the party, which candidates generally seek to avoid.

The links below will take you to websites that define party platforms and address the question of how significant they are in today's politics. The next page contains boxes that summarize and examine the 2016 Democratic and Republican platforms.

What Is a Party Platform? Click here for a brief overview of party platforms by encyclopedia.com.
Party Platforms 1840-2016 This link will take you to a website sponsored by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, that provides access to every major party platform since 1840.
How Important Are Party Platforms? Click here to read the thoughts of eight political scientists on the significance of party platforms.
Do Party Platforms Still Matter? Visit opposingviews.com for a debate on the significance of party platforms in contemporary U.S. politics.