How do they elect a president in the US? How does the electoral system work? Presidential elections in the USA

In each state that has chosen a democratic path, there are national peculiarities of elections to the authorities reflecting the national character, history and traditions of the country. The American electoral system has no equal in this respect in this world. Unaccustomed to the person from the first time it is impossible to figure out how to choose a president in the United States. A multi-stage voting procedure, primaries, electoral college, wavering states ... And this whole battle takes place in the format of a real-life show, capturing the attention of viewers.

Where to start to become president of the United States?

According to the constitution, any citizen who has reached the age of 35, who was born in the territory of the country and has lived here for at least 14 years, can become the president of the United States.

You can be nominated from any party, or you can go to the elections yourself, as an independent candidate.

But the practice of the last centuries shows that a real battle is being waged between two parties - Republican and Democratic. It is the representative of one of these two monsters that determines the fate of the country in the next four years.

In order for a long power not to turn a person's head, the activity of the leader of the country is limited to two terms. According to the founding fathers of the United States, the presence of one person in power for more than 8 years can lead to a dictatorship and the curtailment of all freedoms.

Presidential elections in the US - a multi-stage procedure. On average, it lasts a year and a half. And an active discussion of potential applicants begins one year before the race, so when you ask how often the president is elected to the US, you can say that this is an ongoing process. There are several stages in the procedure: the nomination of candidates, primaries and caucuses (i.e., preliminary elections), approval of a representative from the party at the national congress and the elections themselves.

Primaries

So, in any case, the president is either a democrat or a Republican. Who decides which of the members of the party to go to the polls? Given the great degree of responsibility, there is a system of primaries - preliminary voting to determine the candidate from the Republicans and Democrats. This is a very important point to understand how the US electoral system works.

Each state has its own procedure for holding primary elections, methods of voting. But the essence remains one - delegates are elected, which at the final congress will determine who will represent the party in presidential elections in the United States.

Generally speaking, delegates are not required to vote for the candidate voted for in the primary elections.

There are situations when there may be defectors from one camp to another. But this is an extremely rare case, and such an occurrence only occurs when no candidate has managed to secure the majority of delegates.

There is such a curious day as "super-news". On the first Tuesday of February, primary elections are held in many states at once.

The primaries are a very fascinating sight, they take place from February to June of the year in which elections are held. Americans watch their intermediate results, just like football fans in Europe behind the tournament table of the national championship.

When does the most important thing begin?

The timing of presidential elections in the US has remained unchanged for the third century. As it should be in a decent Anglo-Saxon country, they respect the laws and traditions with great respect and do not change anything without urgent need. The first Tuesday of November is the day when the presidential elections in the USA will be held in 2020, 2024 and so on ad infinitum every four years. So it was established in 1845 and continues to this day.

Why Tuesday? It's all about farmers. The United States in the XIX century was an agrarian country. The majority of voters represented the agricultural regions of the country. The road to the polling station and back took from one to two days. And on Sunday you had to go to church. So they chose the most convenient day in the week to visit the temple and choose the president.

Electors

Citizens of European countries and Russia are accustomed to the sacred formula: the principle of direct, equal and secret ballot. The US electoral system is slightly different. The presidential election here does not include the principle of direct voting. Citizens elect delegates - electors, who, in turn, choose the leader of the country.

In combination with the first person of the state, US citizens receive a vice president who goes with him in the same harness. They are the only persons in the country who are elected at the federal level, that is, they represent the interests of the whole country, and not of any particular state.

Composition of the Board

It is impossible to understand how to choose a president in the United States, not having understood the method of determining the electoral college. The voter comes to the station and, voting for his candidate, thereby gives votes for his team of representatives. Then these delegates, with a formal vote, consolidate the election of the president.

In the electoral team, as a rule, the most authoritative representatives of each state are appointed. They can be congressmen, senators or just respected people.

From each state is nominated so many electors, which is proportional to the number of people who have the right to vote and live in it. There is such a formula - so many electors, how many deputies are elected from state to congress plus 2 people.

For example, the largest number of delegates in 2016 could represent California - 55 people. The smallest - sparsely populated states, such as Utah, Alaska and some others - for 3 people. In total, the composition of the panel is 538 people. To win, you need the votes of 270 electors.

A glance into the history of the state structure

It is difficult for a citizen of unitary, centralized states to understand why the Americans so complicated their election scheme. The thing is that initially the United States was not a single country with a rigid vertical of power.

The very name United States (if literally - "United States") says that it was a union of equal states. Only the most difficult questions they provided to the federal authority in Washington - the army, currency regulation, foreign policy. All other internal affairs were dealt with exclusively by local authorities.

So far, for example, there is no single body that manages police forces. The police of each state report directly to the regional authorities and does not depend on the capital.

The meaning of the scheme with the electors

Each state values its rights. Therefore, in such an important issue, a system was developed in which the president was elected by representatives from every subject of the federation, and not by a simple arithmetic majority. Otherwise, such large states as California or New York could simply impose their will on all other states at the expense of a larger population. And so, only in case of support throughout the country, a candidate can become a national leader.

That is, the essence of this scheme is the support of the principle of federalism of the United States.

Disputes over the electoral system

With such a system, some paradoxes are possible. A candidate who receives more votes than his opponent can safely lose to him because of fewer electors. The reason is as follows. It is already clear, in general, how they choose the president in the United States. The scheme is that it is appointed by the electoral college, collected from all states.

The highlight of the system is that the principle operates: all or nothing. It does not matter whether the candidate won, say in California, with a 99% overweight of 1%, or won by a single vote. In any case, he gets the entire electoral quota assigned to this state (in this case - 55 people).

That is, the overwhelming majority of the voters of the largest regions (California, New York) can vote for a Democratic candidate, and thereby ensure an arithmetic preponderance of votes throughout the country. But if there is no support in other states, there is no victory. Thus, to some extent, the principle of the equivalence of one voice is violated. A voter somewhere in Utah or Alaska "weighs" more than in California or in New York.

Disputes about the need for reforms have been going on for a long time, but, given the traditional conservatism of Americans in the field of laws, there will be a long time to wait for changes.

The reason for Trump's victory in the 2016 elections

This is what happened at the recent elections in the United States. For Clinton, more people voted. But the majority was provided due to the overwhelming preponderance of Democrats in those states, where traditionally all the electors get them. Trump's victory consisted in the fact that he was able to win in those states where voters have not yet decided clearly with their preferences.

There are several vacillating states where there is no pronounced preference for democrats or Republicans. The value is three to four of them. In turn, the most important of them is Florida, which delegated 27 electors. Almost always a winner in Florida and becomes president of the country. In other words, the whole point of the pre-election struggle is to secure an advantage in three or four states out of 50!

This was done by Donald Trump. He neglected the struggle in the desperate for him California and New York and concentrated all his power exactly where it was required.

Historical Cases

Today it is clear how they choose the president in the United States. But at the dawn of statehood, complicated questions arose.

With equal votes of electors, the president was elected by the House of Representatives. This is how Jefferson was elected in the year 1800 and Adams in 1824. Such a rule still exists, but in practice it does not come to this, because the struggle is only between two real candidates. Although, given the even number of electors, this option is theoretically possible.

Technical details, terms

So, the national elections were held, the electoral college is defined. Delegates, without leaving their states, meet in December, on the day determined by the constitution. There is a formal voting procedure. A protocol is drawn up and sent to Congress, where a special commission fixes the voting results.

After approval by Congress and the Senate, in early 2017, Donald Trump will officially assume the duties of the president. According to the constitution, an inauguration ceremony will be held on January 20.

Quite difficult to understand how to choose a president in the United States. For this it is necessary to turn to the history of the country, to understand its traditions, the mentality of people. Presidential elections in the US - an exciting and interesting show, regardless of the political preferences of a person.