Election

An **election** is a manner by which a group of people choose an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. In the United States, elections are the process by which American citizens choose government officials to represent them on the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the President of the United States is elected indirectly through the Electoral College, while each state's senators and representatives are directly elected via statewide and congressional district elections respectfully. At the state or territorial level, elections are typically held for governor, state legislators, and other offices. There are also various elections held at the county or city level, including for mayor, city council, and others. This wiki notes United States presidential, House of Representatives, and Senate elections.

Most elections in the United States operate under a *first-past-the-post* (FPTP) system, meaning the candidate who gets the most votes wins, even if that candidate receives less than 50% of the vote.

## Federal elections

### President and Vice President

The election of the President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the Electoral College. These electors then cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for president, and for vice president. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes (at least 270 out of 538, since the Twenty-third Amendment granted voting rights to citizens of D.C.) is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes for president, the House of Representatives elects the president; likewise if no one receives an absolute majority of the votes for vice president, then the Senate elects the vice president. This has happened twice in American history, in 1800 and 1824. Likewise, this method of electing the president and vice president has resulted in five times where the candidate elected president did not receive a majority of the popular vote, but a majority in the Electoral College (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016).

Presidential elections occur quadrennially on leap years with registered voters casting their ballots on Election Day, which since 1845 has been the first Tuesday after November 1. This date coincides with the general elections of various other federal, state, and local races; since local governments are responsible for managing elections, these races typically all appear on one ballot. The Electoral College electors then formally cast their electoral votes on the first Monday after December 12 at their state's capital. Congress then certifies the results in early January, and the presidential term begins at noon on Inauguration Day, which since the passage of the Twentieth Amendment has been set at January 20.

The nomination process, consisting of the primary elections and caucuses and the nominating conventions, was not specified in the Constitution, but was developed over time by the states and political parties. These primary elections are generally held between January and June before the general election in November, while the nominating conventions are held in the summer. Though not codified by law, political parties also follow an indirect election process, where voters in the fifty states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who then elect their party's presidential nominee. Each party may then choose a vice presidential running mate to join the ticket, which is either determined by choice of the nominee or by a second round of voting.

### United States Congress

Elections to the United States House of Representatives and Senate are direct elections that take place every two years, in even-numbered years, with every House seat up for election and one-third of the Senate seats up for election. In years where there is no presidential election, these are called midterm elections. Members of Congress are sworn in on January 3 in the year following an election. Until the adoption of the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, U.S. senators were indirectly elected by their state's legislature.

If a vacancy occurs in the House (due to the death, resignation, or removal of the incumbent) the governor of the state the House seat belongs to will issue a writ of election, calling for a special election of the seat to fill it. In the Senate, the governor may appoint a replacement senator to serve the remainder of the former senator's term or issue a writ of election to call a special election to fill the vacancy.

## State and local elections

Most states and territories hold their local elections in even-numbered years, coinciding with presidential or midterm elections. In jurisdictions where this is not the case, these are called off-year elections. Two states (New Jersey and Virginia) hold their gubernatorial elections in the year after a presidential election. Three states (Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi) hold their gubernatorial elections in the year before a presidential election.

## Types of elections

### Primary elections

**Primary elections** are elections in which people indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election. Primary election days and rules are different for each state, though most primary elections take place in the spring before the general election in November.

#### Closed primaries

In *closed primaries*, people may vote in a party's primary only if they are registered members of that party prior to election day. Independents cannot participate. Because some political parties name themselves independent, the terms "non-partisan" or "unaffiliated" often replace "independent" when referring to those who are not affiliated with a political party. Thirteen states and Washington D.C. have closed primaries.

#### Semi-closed primaries

As in closed primaries, registered party members can vote only in their own party's primary. However, *semi-closed primaries* allow independent voters to participate as well. Depending on the state, independents either make their choice of party primary privately, inside the voting booth, or publicly, by registering with any party on election day. Fifteen states have semi-closed primaries.

#### Open primaries

In *open primaries*, a registered voter may vote in any party primary regardless of his or her own party affiliation. Fourteen states have open primaries. When voters do not register with a party before the primary, it is called a *pick-a-party primary* because the voter can select which party's primary they wish to vote in on election day. Because of the open nature of this system, a practice known as raiding may occur. Raiding consists of voters of one party crossing over and voting in the primary of another party, effectively allowing a party to help choose its opposition's candidate. The theory is that opposing party members vote for the weakest candidate of the opposite party in order to give their own party the advantage in the general election.

#### Semi-open primaries

*Semi-open primaries* differ from open primaries in that semi-open primaries use a party-specific ballot. Registered voters need not publicly declare which political party's primary that they will vote in before entering the voting booth. When voters identify themselves to the election officials, they must request a party's specific ballot. Only one ballot is cast by each voter. In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials or poll workers from their respective parties record each voter's choice of party and provide access to this information. Certain states that use the open-primary format may print a single ballot and the voter must choose on the ballot itself which political party's candidates they will select for a contested office.

#### Blanket primaries

A *blanket primary* is any primary election in which the ballot is not restricted to candidates from one party.

#### Nonpartisan blanket primaries

In *nonpartisan blanket primaries*, the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.

### Special elections

**Special elections** are elections used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumbent dying or resigning, or when the incumbent becomes ineligible to continue in office (because of a recall, election or appointment to a prohibited dual mandate, criminal conviction, or removal/expulsion from office), or when an election is invalidated by voting irregularities. In some cases a vacancy may be filled by appointment or the office may be left vacant until the next general election.

Special elections are held when a seat in the House of Representatives, state legislature, or local legislature becomes vacant. At the federal level, the U.S. Constitution requires that vacancies in the House of Representatives be filled with a special election (unlike the Senate, where it is up to law of the state involved to determine how the vacancy is filled). In most cases where a vacancy is filled through a special election, a special primary will also be held to determine which candidates will represent their parties.

### Runoff elections

A **runoff election**, sometimes called **second-round voting**, is an election that happens as a result of no candidates receiving a majority (greater than 50%) of the vote in a regular election. Runoff elections are held between the top two candidates to ensure a majority among the total votes cast is reached.

*Instant runoff voting* (IRV), usually referred to as *ranked-choice voting* (RCV), is a system by which voters rank candidates in order of preference for an office. States that use RCV do not need runoff elections since the voters' next choice for office is already determined on the first ballot.

### Recall elections

**Recall elections** are elections in which voters may *recall* or remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition. Rules for calling recall elections differ in each state, with some states not allowing it whatsoever.

In the years immediately following the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, several states proposed adopting a recall process for U.S. senators. However, it did not pass.

Only two state governors have ever been successfully recalled. In 1921, Governor Lynn Frazier of North Dakota was recalled during a dispute about state-owned industries. In 2003, Governor Gray Davis of California was recalled over the state budget. Additionally, in 1988, a recall was approved against Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona, but he was impeached and convicted before it got on the ballot.

 Principles and terminology
 Styles
 Administrative divisions