Elections in America

Elections in America

• Elections in America are important, the process of free and fair elections is a cornerstone of U.S. democracy.

• State and local governments are primarily charged with running elections.

• State, county, and city elections boards are responsible for establishing and staffing polling places, processing mail in ballots, and verifying the eligibility of voters.

• Voter registration processes, mail in ballot eligibility, ID requirements, recount thresholds, etc.

• Elections are also a multi-phase events, beginning with primaries, run-offs, and then general elections.

• Elections also occur at least once every two years.

• Elections held off cycle from a presidential election are called midterms.

Elections occur at each echelon of federalism for not only lawmakers but for governmental positions.

• Elections in the U.S. operate in a winner take all system, meaning you must receive more votes than your competitors to win an election.

• Plurality v. majoritarian voting - the former is employed in nearly all elections, where the latter appears in primaries with more than two candidates contesting.

• Some primaries are split by party, but certain states have rules where primaries are bipartisan.

• In majoritarian systems, ranked choice voting can be employed to determine an instant winner. (its legal in some states!)

• Plurality voting can portend issues for the perceptions of legitimacy.

How you vote has changed over time and made it easier to select between parties for

• The secret ballot with both party candidates included was not introduced until the 1900s, when the government adopted a more formalized role in the elections process relative to parties themselves.

• This change in balloting created the opportunity for more split ticket voting v. straight ticket voting (though straight ticket voting is a common practice today and can be attributed to party influence)

• Polarization can increase the odds of straight ticket voting.

• Split ticket voting was more common in the 1970s and 1980s, remember when the party tents were redistributing and resettling?

Beyond the evolution to a secret ballot, technology impacted how voters cast their votes.

• Many countries use electronic voter systems, to either register or count votes.

• Computerized voting makes voting both easier and quicker, but electronic systems have vulnerabilities that are always of concern.

• The shift from paper ballots (particularly those requiring a hole punch) was predicated by a significant moment in history, the 2000 presidential election.

• Decided by the Supreme Court litigating the existing state electoral process in Florida.

• Paper ballots can be hard to decipher, hand counting can be time consuming and open the potential for additional human error.

Beyond efforts to make balloting easier, voting practices have expanded to encompass mail-in ballots and early voting.

• Mail in ballots provide easier and less time consuming avenues to casting your ballot. States determine their laws pertaining to the access of mail in ballots.

• This method of voting has drawn increased scrutiny following the presidential elections of 2020 due to fears over the potential for fraud.

• Early voting allows for flexible in person voting dates, but also draws criticism for its ability to favor partisanship or encouraging early decisions that could be persuaded later on in the voting cycle.

• States also determine early voting access and duration.

Voter eligibility laws are broadly are determined by the federal government, they are based on age and residency primarily.

• You must be 18 years old to vote (thank you 26th Amendment)

• And a U.S. citizen, dual citizenship too!

• Unless you live in a US. territory.

From there, you must meet your particular states residency requirements and legal requirements.

• Residency is a big deal because of federalism.

• Additionally, every ballot will be different based on residency due to representation being tied to specific geographic areas through the process of districting.

Districting is the process of determining the lines that carve the electoral maps and determine specific representation. When these lines are redrawn, this process is known as redistricting.

Redistricting occurs every ten years following the national census. The process of drawing lines of representation is undertaken by state legislatures.

• Population growth in the U.S. facilitated the rise of new methods of redistricting, with the Supreme Court determining districts should have roughly equal population levels.

House districts cover ~750,000 constituents, while senate territories depend on the total population of the state.

When the redistricting process is done by legislatures to favor one party over another, that process is called gerrymandering.

Gerrymandering can impact districts and representation in many ways, creating safe districts that are impenetrable by an opposing party, and allowing for people with no geographical ties to the region better opportunities to win elections.

• State laws can help facilitate the movement of candidates to these more friendly districts.

• Safe districts help both parties maintain substantive representation in politics, but can decrease the opportunity for truly competitive races.

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Extreme partisan gerrymandering can be unconstitutional, but there is no agreed upon definition for what makes gerrymandering "extremely partisan."

• Gerrymandering is unconstitutional when it can be proven that districting occurred with racial bias.

Partisanship around redistricting can impact polarization, and shift governance to promoting niche interests of reliable voters.

Presidential elections are slightly different, but still rely on residency since your vote is counted in two ways - for your states delegates and for the popular vote.

• The party process requires a selection of the nominee for president from the two major parties, this is done through the primary process and the conventions process.

• When your states primary occurs matters, early leaders in crowded fields have the opportunity to build momentum - not because of popularity, but because of the perception of winning.

• The process of states moving primary dates earlier in the calendar is the practice of frontloading, this is done to allow states more of an influence in choosing the party nominee.

• The party conventions process has devolved delegate selection to improve the equitability of the candidate selection process.

• Delegates can be elected or selected by the party during the primary process.

There are also two types of delegates in both parties, those who must vote the way of their states primary or caucus vote, and those who can vote in any way they choose.

• Those delegates who can vote whichever way typically reserve these votes for multi-round contests that are unable to select a winner via delegate.

Outside the primary and delegate selection process, the electoral college plays the deciding role in selecting the president.

• When you vote you do not cast a vote for the president, you cast a vote for who you want your delegates to vote for.

• Remember this was a buffer built into the Constitution to prevent the citizenry from having too much power over the selection of the most powerful person in government.

• The number of delegates each state has is the total amount of representatives and senators from each state, plus three delegates from Washington D.C. (total of 538)

The distribution of delegates through the electoral college leads to an overrepresentation of smaller states in the process comparatively to larger states.

• The president is selected when the candidate is able to accrue 270 electoral college votes, regardless of the outcome of the popular vote.

States delegates in most cases have to be awarded to the winner of the plurality vote in the state.

• Maine and Nebraska have at large districts that cast votes of their respective districts based on local vote.

• Meaning, these states can split their vote, and while rare, they have and do.

• "Faithless" electors can occur, with states increasing legislation over time to control the vote of electors.

• Several states still lack laws governing faithless electors.

• While the electoral college typically mirrors the direction of the popular vote, there were five times in history where a candidate won the electoral college without winning the popular vote.

• Trump (2016), Bush (2000), Harrison (1888), and Hayes (1876), John Q. Adams (1864).|

• These historical divergences between the electoral college and the popular vote lead to calls to reform the electoral college.

Abolishing the electoral college would require a constitutional amendment. How likely do we think that process is to play out?

• States do have control over their electors, and could rewrite state law to allow delegates to cast votes for the winner of the popular election rather than their states election.

• Over a dozen states and Washington D.C. has passed legislation to allocate their electoral college votes to the popular vote recipient, but the compact has a membership threshold to be enacted.

• There are a few available measures to gage public receptivity to electoral college reform, through ballot initiatives, referendums, and recall elections.

• Ballot initiatives allow for citizens to bypass congress and bring lawmaking decisions directly to the people.

• Referendums allow for congress to kick a law to the people to vote for, rather than making the decision as a body.

• Ballot initiatives and referendums gained popularity over time, and are generally used to broach divisive or controversial topics lawmaking bodies may shy away from (marijuana, abortion, creation of non-partisan redistricting, etc.)

• Recalls allow for the removal of elected officials by popular vote, with 18 states providing for the recall process.

• Recalls are expensive and not a guarantee of victory, but important accountability tools for citizens.