do elections✪ Whymatter?

• CAlIforNIANSwAIT To voTE
AT A pollINg
plACE INloS ANgElES'vENICE BEACH
dISTrICT,
NovEmBEr 4,
2008.

• T H E B ASI C S•Elections help ensure that power
passes in a peaceful, orderly
manner from citizens to theirelected representatives—andfrom one elected official to hisor her successor.
The U.S. Constitution gives certain powers
to the national (or “federal”) government andreserves others for the individual states, and thepeople. In many countries, national governments
set education and health policies, but in the U.S.,
the 50 states have primary responsibility in theseareas. National defense and foreign policy areexamples of federal responsibility.
The Constitution requires that each state
have a republican form of government, and it
forbids states from violating certain specified rights(e.g., “No State shall…deprive any person of life,liberty, or property, without due process of law;nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws.”). But statesotherwise retain considerable power.

The American system can appear
complicated, but it ensures that voters havea voice at all levels of government.

5✪ Who votes?

When George Washington waselected as the first president in 1789,
only 6 percent of the U.S. population
could vote. In most of the original
13 states, only landowning men over
the age of 21 had the right to vote.
Today, the U.S. Constitution guarantees
that all U.S. citizens over the age of 18
can vote in federal (national), state andlocal elections.

• THE oNly
ElECTEd fEdErAl
offICIAlS ArE
THE prESIdENT,vICE prESIdENT
ANd mEmBErS ofCoNgrESS—THE
435 mEmBErS ofTHE HoUSE ofrEprESENTATIvES
ANd THE 100
SENATorS.

6The U.S. Constitution sets therequirements for holding federal
office, but each of the 50 states has
its own constitution and its own
rules for state offices.
for example, governors in most states serve fouryear terms, but in other states the governor is elected
for only two years. voters in some states elect judges,
while in others judges are appointed to office. States
and localities elect thousands of public officials—
from governors and state legislators to school board
members and even dogcatchers.
The only elected federal officials are the president
and vice president, and members of Congress—the435 members of the U.S. House of representatives
and the 100 senators.

• T H E B ASI C S

public officials✪ Whichare elected?

anyone run for✪ Can
political office?

The U.S. Constitution establishes
the requirements for holding
an elected federal office.
To serve as president, one must be a naturalborn* citizen of the United States, at least 35 years
old, and a resident of the United States for at least
14 years. A vice president must meet the same
criteria. Under the 12th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, the vice president cannot have
served two terms as president.
Candidates for the U.S. House of representatives must be at least 25 years old, have been
U.S. citizens for seven years, and be legal residentsof the state they seek to represent in Congress.
U.S. Senate candidates must be at least 30, U.S.
citizens for nine years, and legal residents of thestate they wish to represent.

*A NATUrAlBorN CITIzENIS SomEoNEw H o wAS
A U.S. CITIzENAT BI r TH
w ITH N o
NEEd To BE
NATUrAlIzEd.

8A federal
office holder
must meetcertainrequirements

minimum
Age

PRESIDENT

VICE PRESIDENTSENATORREPRESENTATIVE

35353025

U.S. Citizenshipand residenceyrs

Natural-born*
U.S. citizen; residein the U.S. for 14 years
before the election

yrs

Natural-born* U.S. citizen;
reside in the U.S. for
14 years before theelection and must residein a different state thanthe president

yrs

U.S. citizen for
9 years; residein the state fromwhich electedyrs

U.S. citizen for
7 years; residein the state fromwhich elected• T H E B ASI C Sto hold⍟ Requirements
federal office✪ When are elections held?

Elections for federal office are heldin even-numbered years.
The presidential election is held every four years
and takes place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in
November.
Elections for all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are held every two years.
U.S. senators serve six-year terms that are staggeredso that one-third (or one-third plus one) of the 100 senate
seats come up for election every two years.
If a senator dies or becomes incapacitated while inoffice, a special election can be held in an odd-numbered year
or in the next even-numbered year. The newly electedsenator serves until the end of the original senator’s term.
In some states, the governor appoints someone to serve
the remainder of the original term.

10

be president?

• T HE WHITE
HoUSE , IN
WASHINGToN,
D.C ., HAS bEEN
THE oFFICIAloFFICE ANDRESIDENCEoF THEpRESIDENT
SINCE 1800.

After George Washington, the firstpresident, declined to run for a thirdterm, many Americans believed that two terms inoffice were enough for any president.
None of Washington’s successors sought a third term
until 1940, when, at a time marked by the Great Depres­sion and World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt sought, andwon, a third presidential term. He won a fourth term in1944 and died in office in 1945. Some people thought thatwas too long for one person to hold presidential power.
So in 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
was ratified, which prohibits anyone from being electedpresident of the United States more than twice.

• T H EBASI C S

many times✪ Howcan a person

about other✪ What
political offices?

There are no term limits formembers of Congress. Term limits,
if any, for state and local officials
are spelled out in state constitutions
and local ordinances.
The two chambers of the U.S. Congress, the Houseof representatives and the Senate, have nearly equal
powers, but their means of election are quite different.
The founders of the American republic
intended members of the House of representatives
to be close to the public, reflecting the public’s wishes
and ambitions.
Therefore, the founders designed the House
to be relatively large to accommodate many members
from small legislative districts and to have frequentelections (every two years).

• THE U.S.
CoNgrESSCoNSISTS ofTHE HoUSE
of rEprESENTATIvES
ANd THESENATE.

12

Alaska, for example, has a very small population and therefore has only one U.S. representative.
California, the most populous state, has 55. Every
10 years the U.S. Census is taken, and House seats
are reallocated among the states based on thenew population figures.
Each state draws the boundaries of its congressional districts. States have considerable latitude in
how they do this, so long as the number of citizens
in each district is as close to equal as possible.
Unsurprisingly, when one party controls the state
government, it tries to draw the boundaries to thebenefit of its own congressional candidates.
The Senate was designed for its members torepresent larger constituencies—an entire state—
and to provide equal representation for each state,
regardless of population.
Thus, small states possess as much influence(two senators) as large states in the Senate.

••The two chambers of the U.S. Congress,
the House of representatives and the Senate,
have nearly equal powers, but their meansof election are quite different.

• T H E B ASI C S

Each of the 50 states is entitled to
one seat in the House, with additional seats
allocated according to population.

for✪ Elections
federal officeElections forfederal offices
are usually heldin even-numberedyears.
presidents andvice presidents
are elected every
4 years. In theU.S. Congress,
senators areelected every
6 years andrepresentatives
are elected
every 2 years.
PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT
U.S. CONGRESSREPRESENTATIVESENATOR

2012

2014

435

2016

435

U.S. Vice President
Elected every

4 years

2018

2020

2022

U.S. House ofRepresentatives
All 435 representatives
elected every

435

2 years

U.S. Senate

33 out of 100 senators
elected every

33 /100
33/1002 years

34/10015• T H E BASIB ASI C S

U.S. President