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U.S. Electoral Systems
The United States uses a mixture of electoral systems. Some elements of the system date back to the founding of the U.S., while other elements have been reformed more recently. Critics point out parts of the system do not meet International Best Practices including ‘one person, one vote, one value.’ Below we provide a summery of the different electoral systems used for the Legislature and the President.
National Legislature
The U.S. legislature is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the House of Representatives) and an upper house (the Senate). Members of both houses are elected using a plurality system with single member districts (First Past the Post or FPTP).
The House of Representatives (the House, Congress, or HoR) has 435 voting members elected to two-year terms. Following a census every ten years, these seats are apportioned according to population among the 50 states. There are additional delegates with limited rights from the U.S. territories and District of Columbia.
The Senate has two members elected from each U.S. state. Terms are staggered such that one-third of the Senate is elected every two years. No more than one Senator is elected from any state in a given year.
President and Vice President
To understand the system used for U.S. Presidential Elections, it is best to consider elections for President and Vice President as an amalgamation of 51 separate yet simultaneous elections. The president is not directly elected by popular vote, being instead indirectly elected by a special body called the Electoral College. This system is truly unique; indeed the U.S. is the only presidential democracy in the world that uses an electoral college to elect an executive head of state.
Voters in each state as well as the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) elect electors to the college. Ballot design varies, some votes select presidential candidates, in others, they select parties. In 48 of 50 states, electors are sent as a block: the winning candidate’s party chooses all of the electors. In two other states, Maine and Nebraska, the electors are partially chosen on a district basis and partially on a state-wide basis. A state’s number of electors (relative voting power) is equal to its number of federal legislators (House members plus Senators). Washington DC, which is not a state, has representation in the Electoral College as if it were a state.
[+] Click here for further details on U.S. state and local election systems
Electors subsequently elect the president by absolute majority; that election will occur on December 15th.In the unlikely event of a tie, the legislature decides the winner.
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