Chapter 10 - US electoral system Flashcards
Electoral collage system
Americans are formally electing state delegates to send to the electoral college which will then elect the president using the first past the post system. the election of the presient via the electoral college is an indirect process.
- Presidential candidates campaign in each of the 50 US States throughout the country.
- On election day, always held in November, each state separately votes for who they want to be the President.
- If a Presidential candidate ‘wins’ a State, that means they received the highest number of votes in that State. E.g. if 52% of voters in Oregon vote for Harris, then Harris will have ‘won’ that State.
- If a candidate wins a State, that State formally votes for the candidate chosen by the State in the Electoral College vote in December. For example, all 8 of Oregon’s electors will formally vote for Harris at the Electoral College vote in December.
- A presidential candidate must win a majority in the electoral college vote. There are a total of 538 electors (the combined total of all the electors in each State), so a presidential candidate must win 270 votes at the at the electoral college to become the President.
california contains 55 electors - 2 senators and 53 representatives
Primaries
Are conventional elections held by the state government where individuals eligible to vote cast a ballot indicating who they would like to recieve the party’s nomination.
Basically the preference of the state who they want to represent a particular party.
e.g. Florida
Caucuses
Are the gatherings of people in town halls organised by the party. candidates make speeches and people vote by assembling in groups around their chosen candidate.
- community based debate
- open - anyone in state can participate
- closed - registration, must prove member of that party
- semi open + semi closed - variations of the two main types
e.g. Iowa uses caucuses
Gerrymandering
the laws concerning drawing electoral boundaries are important and controversial because those boundaries can affect who wins.
Redrawing the electoral divisions to advantage one party.
- gov responsibility
- MAINLY WHEN BOUNDARIES ARE ALTERED FOR BENEFIT
- can be changed to suit (example of this)
- undermines representative government
- republicans commonly interfere
- party intentionally makes it more difficult
e.g. Texas, alabama, Illinois
greensboro, north carolina is divided in order to dilute the influence of democratic voters
Voter suppression
Discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting.
laws or policies have been implemented in various US states to restrict voter registration
e.g.
- Ban on same-day registration - some states do not allow same-day registration, which requires voters to register before Election Day. This can prevent last-minute registrants from voting.
- Limited online registration - Not all states offer online voter registration, and some have restricted access to online registration by requiring specific forms of identification that not all potential voters possess.
kansas requires voters to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote this reduces certian groups of peoples rights to vote. such as homeless, or those who do not have access to documents like passports or brith cirtificates
Strengths of US election system
focus on rep gov, majority rule, political participation
In the US they have a direct say over their Executive (they get to choose Trump or Harris) whereas in Australia we do not really get to choose who our PM is. In some ways this arguably makes the US more representative and reflective of the majority will.
Weaknesses of US election system
focus on rep gov, majority rule, political participation
- voluntary voting –> lower voter turnout - had a 66% voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election
- majority not accurate
- does not represent the broader community - due to limited votes
- low political participation
- uses first past the post voting system –> vote wasteage
- need to be wealthy to run for candidate - this discourages participation
- gov not reflective of the people
Strengths of AUS election system
focus on rep gov, majority rule, political participation
- compulsory voting - higher political participation, creates a more representative government, reflects the people more, it also enforces and makes sure the country votes (a large proportion of the country)
- upholds majority rule (50% + 1)
- uses preferntial and proportional voting systems, makes the government more reflective of the people
Weaknesses of AUS election system
focus on rep gov, majority rule, political participation
commonwealth electoral act 1918 section 245
Compulsory Voting:
- increaed informal votes
- offensive to liberal groups -> people who believe the gov should not control. feel like the government is forcing them to vote and that it breaches their rights
- creation of “safe seats” which parties may ignore knowing they will win them
primaries and caucuses
the methods states use to determine who they would like to recieve votes. identifies who will run for president.
held by each of the major parties to elect their presidential candidate
method used to elect congress
congressional elections
CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
- split into electoral divisions based on population
- 435 seats in the HOR in washington DC
- 435 electoral divisions
- divided - 212 democrats, 220 republicans
- upper house (senate) - 50 states - each state recieves 2 senators for a total of 100 senators
- senate rotation every 2 years and only 1/3 of the senate stands for election
- e.g. in 2022, 35 senators stood for election
- california –> 55 electors
in 2020 joe biden won president defeating donald trump
