Electoral device for choosing a party's candidates for public office. The formal primary system is peculiar to the U.S., where it came into widespread use in the early 20th century. Most U.S. states use it for elections to statewide offices and to the national presidency; in presidential elections, delegates are selected to attend a national convention, where they vote for the candidate to whom they are pledged. A closed-vote primary is restricted to party members; an open-vote primary is open to all voters in the district. Names can be placed on a ballot by an eligible citizen's declaration of candidacy, by nomination at a pre-primary convention, or by a petition signed by a required number of voters. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries political parties in some countries (e.g., the United Kingdom and Israel) adopted similar procedures for the election of the national party leader. Seealso electoral system; party system.
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Formal process by which voters make their political choices on public issues or candidates for public office. The use of elections in the modern era dates to the emergence of representative government in Europe and North America since the 17th century. Regular elections serve to hold leaders accountable for their performance and permit an exchange of influence between the governors and the governed. The availability of alternatives is a necessary condition. Votes may be secret or public. Seealso electoral system, party system, plebiscite, primary election, referendum and initiative.
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Constitutionally mandated process for electing the U.S. president and vice president. Each state appoints as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress (U.S. senators, representatives, and government officers are ineligible); the District of Columbia has three votes. A winner-take-all rule operates in every state except Maine and Nebraska. Three presidents have been elected by means of an electoral college victory while losing the national popular vote (Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and George W. Bush in 2000). Though pledged to vote for their state's winners, electors are not constitutionally obliged to do so. A candidate must win 270 of the 538 votes to win the election.
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