The Voting Process: The Presidential Election Process

To be eligible to vote a person must meet three qualifications: they must be at least 35 years old, be a natural-born citizen of the United States, and have been a resident for 14 years. The process for electing a president begins with primary elections and caucuses, where voters pick a candidate they support. The next step is nominating conventions where political parties choose who they want to represent their party in the presidential race. After they are nominated the candidates travel across the country campaigning to outline their views and plans to voters as well as debate with fellow candidates. After the campaign tours the next step is to hold the election, where the next president is determined by the candidate with the most electoral

There are different types of primaries and caucuses that can occur in states. Open primaries allow for voters to cast a vote regardless of prior registration and party affiliation. On the other hand, closed primaries require voters to register before the primary occurs and only allows them to vote for the candidates’ party that is hosting the primary. A compromise occurs with hybrid primaries where voters who have not registered with a party can vote for either party’s candidates, but those who have registered with a party can only vote for the candidate whose party they registered. The main difference between a primary and a caucus is in how they are run. During a caucus voters divide themselves up according to which candidate they support. After this is done each candidate gives a speech and tries to convince voters to join their group. When all the speeches are finished voters arrange themselves again and they are counted to calculate the delegates that the candidate has

The general election occurs in early November where the population votes, known as the popular vote, for who they would like to be president. However, the popular vote is not used to determine the next president of the United States. The votes from the Electoral College are used to determine the winner of the election. Political parties select who will serve as electors, then the electors will meet and Congress will count the votes for President and Vice President. In order to win presidency a nominee must gain 270 electoral votes, over half of the 538 electoral votes. The state of Tennessee has 11 votes in the Electoral College. The state with the most votes is California with 55 votes and the state with the smallest amount of votes is a tie between Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Vermont, and Delaware. It is possible for no nominee on the ballot to gain enough Electoral votes to win presidency. If this happens then the House of Representatives decides from three nominees with the most electoral votes. The Senate decides the Vice President from the top two nominees. If the House does not decide by Inauguration day then the Vice President chosen by the Senate acts as President until one is