Us Electoral System

On November 7, 2000, millions of American citizens went to polling places all over the country to select the next president of the United States.

The date for the election of the president, always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every fourth year, was fixed by the U.S. Congress in 1845. Although elections are held every year — for governors, for national lawmakers, and for state, county, and local officials — choosing a chief executive is by far one of the most important processes in representative government in the United States.

Election of a new president climaxes a grueling campaign, one of the longest and most arduous in the democratic world, for the position of chief of state. Hopefuls seeking nomination by the Republican and Democratic parties, the two major political parties in the United States, often launch their drives as much as two years before voting day arrives. They start their efforts by creating organizations throughout the country in as many states as they can. These organizations, staffed by a few paid professionals but mostly by volunteers, go to work with him to publicize their candidate's name and views and to raise as much money as possible. Campaigns are expensive-Television and radio time must be purchased at ever-rising rates, literature printed and mailed, premises rented, travel costs paid, and banners, buttons, bunting and other items ordered.

How do Americans choose the final nominees for the two major parties from the list of candidates who declare their intentions?

In earlier years, the parties' members in the Senate and House of Representatives, the country's legislative bodies that compose the Congress, met behind closed doors and made the selections. But because that system smacked of elitism, the method of nominating by national conventions was created.

The first such nationwide conclave by a political party was held in 1831, and within a few years it was followed by others. Conventions — noisy, colorful, quadrennial meetings — are now a fixed U.S. institution. Delegates from across the nation converge on the convention city to decide on their standard-bearer.

Until the early 1900s, powerful political leaders were mainly responsible for the choice of a candidate by the conventions. The decisions were made in the notorious "smoke-filled rooms" chambers in which cigar- and pipe-smoking party bosses were the key factors in the ultimate decision. The delegates to the conventions, who were chosen by the party heads themselves, simply voted as they were instructed.

Political reform movements early in the century diluted considerably the power or the party bosses, thus making the process of selecting a candidate more democratic. In 1906, Wisconsin became the first state to enact legislation requiring that delegates to the national conventions be chosen by popular vote in a special kind of election called a "primary." Other states quickly passed similar laws. And so today, the road to the nomination leads through a lengthy string of these primary elections that begin in the snow and sleet of February and do not end until close to convention time in the heat of midsummer.

Some states hold "party caucuses" instead of primaries. Those ate neighborhood meetings all across the state at which enrolled party members vote their preferences. The principle, however, in both primaries and caucuses is the same — democratic choice, by the people, of the persons who will head their party's ticket. Candidates are out on the caucus and primary trail early in election year, spending significant sums and exerting considerable effort to win as many delegates into their camps as possible. It is a rugged task: They crisscross the nation day after day and week after week, often visiting three or more cities in a single day. They stand at factory gates at dawn in all kinds of weather greeting workers. They go to shopping malts, railroad stations, meeting halls, school auditoriums — everywhere their advisers think they can convince voters. They are at the job 16 or more hours a day, eating on the run, sleeping when they can.

The system of picking delegates to the conventions is confusing because states do not follow a uniform procedure. Some hold open primaries in which registered voters of any political party can cast ballots for any candidate, or even for delegates who do not back a particular aspirant. Other states have closed primaries, elections in which only voters who have previously registered their affiliations with a party are entitled to have their say. Moreover, some primaries use proportional systems, while others are "winner-take-all." In the former, delegates are selected according to the portion of the vote each candidate wins, while in the latter all of the state's delegates go to the candidate capturing a majority vote.

As these pre-election elections and caucuses go on, candidates and their supporters closely watch two key dates, each of which can foretell what lies ahead. One caucus is early in February, it is significant because it is the country's first test of a candidate's strength in any state. The second major signpost is the first state primary eight days later, always in New Hampshire, a north-eastern state of some 1.1 million that borders Canada,

Candidates who do poorly here have second thoughts about continuing their quests, and many drop out. In 1968, for example, Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota bested President Lyndon Johnson in the Democratic primary by unexpectedly polling a large percentage of the New Hampshire votes. By the end of that March, Johnson announced he would not seek re-election. His weak showing in the snows of New Hampshire, analysts pointed out, was a major contributing factor in his decision. The hard months of primary and caucus campaigning culminate in the political conventions, in 2000, the Republicans held theirs from July, 29 to August, 2 in Philadelphia; the Democrats met in Los Angeles from August 14 to 17.

These assemblages are surely among the most colorful, not to mention noisy and brassy, events staged in America. The halls and arenas where they are held are awash in red, white, and blue bunting. American flags, balloons, and banners. Delegates wear armbands and hats proclaiming their affiliations. The major television networks provide on-the-spot coverage, which is beamed all over the world News services and magazine sent their best journalists to report extensively on the proceedings. Thus all Americans have an opportunity to watch their democracy choose its own leaders.

Conventions always open with a keynote address, generally delivered by the party's most crowd-rousing orator. Nomination of the presidential and vice presidential candidates always comes on the third day of the convention. At the conclusion of the balloting, when the nominee has been named, thousands of balloons cascade from the ceiling and bedlam reigns. Only incessant gavel-pounding by the chairperson quiets the delegates enough to hear true acceptance speech. With the nominee, his or her running mate, and their spouses waving and smiling from the rostrum, the convention finally comes to a close.

Independent and third-party candidates may also make a run for the White House. Such candidates must have strong local organizations of volunteers who gather the necessary number of petition signatures for the candidate to gain access to the ballot in each state. The required number of signatures varies from state to state, from 100,000 signatures in a

large state like California to 1,000 in smaller states like Vermont.

After the close of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, the campaign for

election begins in earnest. Once again the candidates travel throughout the nation,

explaining their stands on key issues. They are careful to concentrate on states that their

strategists believe might go either way, spending less precious time and money in those

they believe they cannot win and the ones they definitely expect to carry.

America's mass media are a potent though not necessarily determining factor in the

outcome of a presidential election. The power of television in the election process was

recognized for the first time in 1960, when the young, handsome John F. Kennedy

defeated Richard M. Nixon in a close race. "Television loved Kennedy," wrote David

Halberstam, a noted American journalist. "He and the camera were made for each other;

he was its first great political superstar." Halberstam stated flatly: "In no way could he

(Kennedy) have been elected president without television."