The U.S. Election System

The Constitution established the following guidelines for federal elections:

• U.S. House of Representatives: Members serve for 2 years; they are elected by popular vote.
• U.S. Senate: Members serve for 6 years. These terms are staggered so that one-third of Senate seats are open for election every 2 years. Article I of the Constitution directed that senators be selected by state legislatures. The 17th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, transformed this process to direct election by voters, the same system used to elect members of the House.
• U.S. President: The chief executive is limited to two 4-year terms. Although people vote for their preferred candidate, the winner is actually determined by the Electoral College, which is explained in a video below. Each party selects a presidential and vice presidential candidate who run as a team, a system that emerged following the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804.

Although the Constitution established the foundations for federal elections, specific laws and rules that shape the actual voting process and determine who is eligible to vote are created by the individual states. However, the federal government can challenge and sometimes overrule state election policies that it considers unconstitutional.

The following links provide more detailed explanations of federal elections:

Most federal elections involve a contest between a Democratic and a Republican candidate. However, in many elections, particularly presidential contests, several candidates from both parties vie for open seats. The parties then hold primary elections to eliminate all but one candidate. Each state determines the date for its primaries, although multiple states frequently schedule them for the same date. The most prominent example is "Super Tuesday," usually in March, where as many as a dozen states hold either primary elections or caucuses.

Most primary elections fall into one of two categories: closed and open. In a closed primary, only members of a particular party can vote in that party's primary. In contrast, an open primary is open to all voters. Most New York primaries are closed primaries.

Watch the video below for a comprehensive explanation of how the primary system works.

Video: Primary Elections Explained by GGP Grey

• Presidential Primaries & Caucuses

  Primaries and caucuses are two ways that people help states and political parties choose presidential nominees. Learn how they work and the differences between the processes. From USA.gov.