How the American President Is Elected. Free Essay on Political Science.

The United States election is approaching and currently there are numerous debates between Republican and Democrats on who is taking the mantle from President Obama and different gubernatorial positions in America. Well, the entire election process in America is quite complicated whereby the electorates cast their votes for their House members who in turn elect the president and his vice. Each term takes four years, but the sitting president can be re-elected once. The last election was held on November sixth and will be held again next year. The entire election and campaign process is moderated by both federal and state laws whereby every state is allocated a specific number of electron college electors proportional to its senators and representatives in the Congress. Further, the capital, Washington, D.C is allocated votes equivalent to the smallest state. The aspiring presidential candidates makes an official announcement of their intention to vie for the presidency then file papers with the federal election commission for approval.

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Once the presidential candidate announces his intention to run for the seat, he begins to publicize him/herself through debates and hold meetings with other states officials. Every January of an election year and in this case January 2016, the presidential candidate starts intensive campaigns, and their supporters gather to show solidarity for their preferred candidate. The gatherings are used in polls as the primary election (caucuses) often reflects the outcome of the forthcoming general elections held in November of the election year. The majority of the voters belong to some political party either democrat or republican. Those voters belonging to Democrats are given primary election ballot with names of only presidential candidates in Democrat. The same happens to the Republicans where they are given ballot with only names of a presidential candidate contesting on the Republican ticket. However, in the November general election, voters are allowed to vote for anyone.

The United States Constitution allows every legislature to choose electors, and that is why the popular vote on November is conducted through stages and not directly by the federal government. After this, the electorate can vote for anyone. It is only under rare circumstances that the vote for designated candidates. This will require vote certification by the Congress. The Congress makes the final decision on the election, and the presidential term begins on 20th January.

The presidential candidate nomination was initially not included in the United States Constitution. It was instead developed over time by the different states that made the amendment and the political parties acts. The primary elections that depict the actual picture in the general election are conducted between January of the election year and June before the general elections. These nominations have also shown an indirect election process and the electorates cast their votes for a slate of their delegates to the political party nomination done nationally. The nominated presidential candidate chooses his running mates to join in the same ticket to the white house. The running mate is then authenticated and made public to the voters by the convention. Meanwhile due to the national finance laws, the federal contributions to the campaigns are made public, and it is advised for the major political parties to declare their intentions early to prepare financially and allow smooth control of the entire election process in the US which usually takes almost two years.