How did the president of the United States come into being? -Elected, but not by universal suffrage

There is still more than one year before the 2008 general election in the United States, and the primary election has not officially started, but the election activities of democracy, * * * and bipartisan candidates are already in full swing. However, the president of the United States is not directly elected by voters, but depends on the voting results of the electoral college.

On the first Tuesday of June 165438+ 10 every four years, more than 90 million voters in the United States will vote for members of the electoral college. According to the electoral college system, the votes of voters in each state only determine the voters in that state, so that the members of the electoral college can vote for which candidate. Candidates who get more than half of the electoral votes in a state get all the electoral votes in that state. Voters will vote for the president of the United States in June+mid-February 5438.

* Elected president with more than half of the votes *

So how is the electoral college formed and how many voters are there? According to Article 2 of the Constitution of the United States and the Second Amendment of the Constitution adopted by 1804, the number of electors in each state is equivalent to the number of members elected in that state. The District of Columbia, where DC Washington is located, has three electoral districts. At present, the electoral college in the United States has 538 members. If the presidential candidate gets more than half of this figure, that is, more than 270 electoral votes, he can be elected. If no candidate gets this number of votes, it will be decided by the House of Representatives.

The representatives of each state add up to only one vote, and the candidate who gets more than half of the votes is elected president. This has only happened twice in American history. Thomas Jefferson was elected in 180 1 and john quincy adams was elected in 1825.

Although in theory, voters should vote according to their wishes, the US Constitution does not force them to do so. In fact, few voters defected, and such "disloyal" voting rarely changed the election results. Some state laws prohibit voters from defecting.

* If you fall behind the total number of votes in the general election, you can still win the general election *

So, in the history of the United States, has there ever been a situation in which presidential candidates fell behind in the total number of votes in the general election but won the general election? The answer is yes. So far, this has always happened three times.

1876, there are 369 electoral votes in the United States. In that year's presidential election, * * * and party candidate Rutherford de Hayes won 4.036 million 298 votes, and Democratic candidate Samuel Turden won 4.305 million 590 votes. Hayes got fewer votes than Turden in the general election, but he got more electoral votes than 185 184, and was elected president.

1888, the United States had 40 1 electoral votes. * * * The party's presidential candidate Benjamin Harrison won 5,439,853 votes and 233 electoral votes in the general election. Grover Cleveland, a Democratic candidate, won 5.54 million 309 votes in the general election, but only got 168 electoral votes. As a result, Harrison won the election.

In 2000, the United States had 538 electoral votes. * * * And George W. Bush, the party's presidential candidate, won 50,456,002 votes in the general election, less than Al Gore's 50,999,897 votes, but Bush was elected president because he won 27 1 electoral votes.

If a presidential candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, although he won a small number of votes in the general election, most American voters will naturally not be happy. So, why did the founding fathers of the United States establish such a system?

American presidential election laws and regulations: how to conduct the primary election of American presidential election

After June 5438+ 10, 2008, some American states will hold primary elections one after another. During the primary election, the presidential candidate of a political party should campaign in all states. The candidate who gets the most votes in the party will be nominated by the party congress and become the only presidential candidate of the party. In the general election, they will have a decisive battle with the presidential candidate of the rival party.

* Primary elections and primary elections of grass-roots party groups *

The primary election is the first stage of the US presidential election. Its purpose is to screen presidential candidates within political parties before the presidential election in June 165438+ 10. Every state has different procedures for screening presidential candidates. Most States adopt "individual voting primary election", and people vote for their favorite party presidential candidates.

At present, most States in the United States adopt this primary election method. However, some states adopt the caucus system, and through collective discussion in party member, satisfactory candidates of political parties are selected.

Heather Gerken, a professor at Harvard Law School, explained the difference between "individual voting primary election" and "primary election of grassroots party group meeting". She said:

"The' individual voting primaries' are very similar to the general election. People must vote to mark their favorite candidates on the list of candidates, and the person with the most votes will win the primary election. The primary election of the grassroots party group meeting is more like a congressional debate. Members of parliament had a heated debate and sought compromise. It's like a municipal meeting, where everyone gets together and makes a decision on something. "

Nate Persily, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, pointed out that the key difference between the two forms is that one is secret ballot and the other is public voting.

Professor Percy said: "The' individual voting primary election' means that people have to vote for a candidate. No one knows who voted and who voted. However, the "primary election of grassroots party groups" is more similar to collective decision-making. People will stand up and publicly support a candidate, and then everyone will be divided into different groups. The more support votes a candidate gets in the group, the more representative votes he gets in a constituency in the state where the' grassroots party primary election' is held. "

In this way, if you want more people to participate in voting and keep the privacy of voting, you can choose "individual voting primary election", and if you want to have an open and in-depth discussion on a certain issue, you can choose "primary election of grassroots party groups", which way to take is up to each state. However, in the early history of the United States, States generally elected political party presidential candidates through the "primary election of grassroots party groups."

* Reform the voting procedure *

Heather Gerken, a professor at Harvard Law School, pointed out that due to fraudulent practices such as party manipulation, States began to reform voting procedures. She said:

"There are many problems of voting fraud in American history. For example,/kloc-0 in the late 1980s and/kloc-0 in the early 1990s, political parties printed their own votes, solicited votes by providing free alcohol and watched others vote. In order to prevent this kind of fraud, States began to participate in voting and stipulated who could participate in the primary election. Now, States are playing an increasingly important role in this regard, but this is not about who people should vote for, but about voting procedures, when and how to vote, and is responsible for counting votes. "

* The primary election is not a direct election *

Elizabeth Garrett, a professor at the University of Southern California Law School, said that no matter which way you take, people will not directly vote for the presidential candidate. She said:

"In the' individual voting primaries' and' grassroots party primaries', the voters actually did not directly vote for political party candidates. For example, in the primary election, people don't directly vote for the Democratic presidential candidate himself, but vote for the delegates attending the Democratic Party Congress, and then they go there to choose the presidential candidate. "

Nat Persili, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, further explained this practice. "Every state gets a certain number of delegates according to its population, so big states like California or new york get more delegates than small states like Delaware and New Hampshire and agricultural states like Wyoming," he said. Party presidential candidates should compete for as many votes as possible before the primary election is over. Whoever gets more votes is the winner. "

* State Election Ordinance *

There are some laws at the federal level in the United States that every citizen, regardless of race or sex, has equal voting rights. But the electoral law in the United States is mainly at the state level. All 50 states in the United States have their own election regulations and voting methods, and the presidential election is no exception.

For example, there are hundreds of laws and regulations about primary elections. For example, some states allow cross-party voting in order to select popular presidential candidates, but some states only allow members of their own party to participate in the primary election of their own party, so as to ensure the election of presidential candidates who are truly loyal to their own party.

Elizabeth Garrett, a professor at the University of Southern California School of Law, introduced the differences in state practices. She said:

"There are two kinds of' individual voting primaries' in the United States. Take the Democratic primary as an example. Some states adopt closed' individual voting primaries', so only registered members of the Democratic Party can vote. Other states, such as California, where I live, adopt semi-closed "individual voting primaries", allowing Democrats and independents to vote. The' primary election of grassroots party and group meetings' is different, because everyone will get together to discuss, so it will take up more personal time. The people who participated in this primary election are generally the loyal party member of the party. "

* New Hampshire and Iowa lead *

In addition, each state has its own laws and regulations on when to hold the primary election. Traditionally, the first state to hold the "individual voting primary election" was New Hampshire, and the first state to hold the "primary election of the grassroots party group meeting" was Iowa. The initial stage of the primary election is very important, because the election results can generally reflect the strength of the political party candidates, which often has a great impetus to the subsequent elections, so the political party presidential candidates will strive to win in the state where the primary election is held first.

As for which state should hold the primary election first, it depends entirely on the laws of each state. For example, the law passed in New Hampshire stipulates that its primary election must be held one week before the primary election in any other state. Therefore, if any state passes a new law to advance its primary election time, then the primary election time in New Hampshire will be automatically advanced.

Elizabeth Garrett, a professor at the University of Southern California Law School, pointed out: "There has always been controversy about which state should hold the primary election first, because no state wants to hold the primary election after the general election is a foregone conclusion. * * * Republicans and Democrats have long held primaries and caucuses in New Hampshire and Iowa.

"There is great controversy about whether these two states are the best places to hold primary elections first, because they are not representative states in the United States. These two states are both agricultural states with few ethnic minorities. Therefore, the representatives elected by more representative big States may be different from those they elected. "

:: What if there is a conflict between the state and political parties? *

Richard Hassan, a professor at Loyola Law School, pointed out that the election rules within political parties sometimes conflict with state election laws. He said:

"Each state can decide its own primary election time, but if the political party disagrees, it can not accept the date selected by the state. For example, if California passes a law saying that a primary election will be held before New Hampshire, the Democratic Party can say that if so, it will not recognize the result of California's primary election because it has promised that New Hampshire will hold the primary election first. "

Above, we introduced some laws and regulations of primary election in state elections. Of course, each political party also has its own campaign regulations. If there is a conflict between the two, how can American law be determined? According to the judgment of the American court, political parties have the final decision on who participates in the primary election and the primary election regulations, that is, state laws are subject to the election regulations of political parties. Next, I would like to introduce you to a case involving the election law tried by the Supreme Court of the United States.

* California law allows cross-party primaries *

1996, California voters passed the "all-inclusive primary election law" by referendum. This law stipulates that no matter which party voters belong to, they can participate in the primary elections of other parties, and the candidate of the party with the most votes will be nominated as the presidential candidate of their own party.

Richard Hassan, a professor at Loyola Law School in California, introduced the content of this law. He said:

"California law stipulates that people who vote in the primary election, no matter which political party they belong to, should be allowed to participate in the primary election. For example, I am a democratic party, I can participate in the primary elections of * * * and parties, and I can change my primary elections without any restrictions. For example, when electing a governor, I may decide to participate in the * * * and inner-party primaries, while when electing a senator, I may decide to participate in the Democratic primary. "

* California election law is controversial *

Supporters of "blanket primary election" believe that this system can promote more people to vote and choose more moderate candidates. However, the Democratic Party of California and the Democratic Party of California, which have traditionally prohibited independents from participating in their own primary elections, both said that allowing independents to participate in the primary elections would make it difficult for the two parties to select candidates who can better represent their views.

Therefore, several political parties, led by the Democratic Party, filed lawsuits against the California government on the grounds that California's primary election law violated their freedom of association granted by the Constitution. However, Bill Jones, the representative of the sued party and California Secretary of State, argued that the "primary package" could better reflect public opinion.

The decisions of the district and the court of appeal are in favor of the California government on the grounds that the interests of the state outweigh the rights of political parties. However, the California Democratic Party refused to accept the appeal.

* The court ruled that the interests of political parties take precedence *

On June 26th, 2000, the Supreme Court ruled by a majority of 7 to 2 that California's primary election law violated the constitutional rights of political parties, because the federal constitution of the United States guaranteed the right of political parties themselves, not others, to choose their own candidates.

On the one hand, this judgment denies California's primary election law, on the other hand, it also means that the final decision should be made by political parties rather than States on electoral law issues, such as who can be allowed to participate in the primary election of political parties and which state should hold the primary election first.

* Presidential nomination *

We mentioned at the beginning that the candidate who gets the most delegates after the primary election will be nominated by the political party. However, Richard Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School, pointed out that the reality is that after the primary elections in previous States, some candidates saw that they had few delegates and had no hope of qualifying, so they withdrew before the primary elections ended.

Professor Hassan said: "In recent years, people often know who will be nominated as the sole presidential candidate of a political party before the party congress begins, because a candidate will get so many votes that it has become commonplace for delegates to vote at the party congress just to fulfill their due obligations."

After the state primaries, each party will hold a party congress, and then the delegates will vote to nominate their only presidential candidate. Elizabeth Garrett, a professor at the University of Southern California Law School, pointed out that delegates were more flexible when voting. She said:

"Some political party candidates may withdraw before the election. Therefore, those delegates who decide to vote for them will have the flexibility to vote for other candidates if they are elected to the Party Congress in the primary election. In addition, there are some so-called "super delegates", who don't have to go through the primary election, but the party decides to attend the party congress. Therefore, this is a very flexible system. But generally speaking, people can know a little about who will be nominated at the party congress through the representatives elected in the primary election. "