US PRESIDENTAL ELECTION PROCESS

The election of President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect election in
which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the 50 U.S. states or
Washington, D.C. cast ballots for members of the U.S. Electoral College, known as electors.
These electors then in turn cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for President and
Vice President. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes for
President or Vice President (currently, at least 270 out of a total of 538) is then elected to
that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority for President, the House of
Representatives chooses the President; if no one receives a majority for Vice President, then
the Senate chooses the Vice President.

U.S. Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates

U.S. Constitution by Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 4; and the Twelfth Amendment

The President must:

 Be a natural-born citizen of the United States

Any person who meets these requirements can declare his or her candidacy for President at
any time. Candidates must register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Presidential Primaries and Caucuses

Before the general election, most candidates for President go through a series of state
primaries and caucuses. Though primaries and caucuses are run differently, they both serve
the same purpose—to allow the states to help choose the political parties’ nominees for the
general election.

 State primaries are run by state and local governments. Voting occurs through secret
ballot.
 Caucuses are private meetings run by political parties.
 Both primaries and caucuses can be conducted as “open,” “closed,” or some hybrid
of the two.
o During an open primary or caucus, people can vote for a candidate of any
political party.
o During a closed primary or caucus, participants must be registered with a
political party to vote for one of its candidates.
o “Semi-open” and “semi-closed” primaries and caucuses are variations of the
two main types.
National Conventions

After the primaries and caucuses, most political parties hold national conventions to finalize
their choice for their Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees. 

The national conventions typically confirm the candidate who has already won the required
number of delegates through the primaries and caucuses. However, if no candidate has
received the majority of a party’s delegates, the convention becomes the stage for choosing
that party’s Presidential nominee.

Delegates: Types

There are two main types of delegates:

 Pledged, or bound, delegates, who are required to support the candidate to whom
they were awarded through the primary or caucus process
 Unpledged, or unbound delegates, or superdelegates, who are free to support any
Presidential candidate of their choosing

General Election Campaigning

General election campaigning begins after a single nominee is chosen from each political
party, via primaries, caucuses, and national conventions. These candidates travel the
country, explaining their views and plans to the general population and trying to win the
support of potential voters. Rallies, debates, and advertising are a big part of general
election campaigning.

Electoral College

Unlike in other U.S. elections, the President and Vice President are not elected directly by
the people. Instead, they’re chosen by “electors” through a process called the Electoral
College.

The idea of using electors comes from the Constitution. The nation’s founders saw it as a
compromise between electing the President by a popular vote among citizens and electing
the President in Congress.            

The Electors

The number of electors each state gets is determined by how many members of Congress
(House and Senate) the state has. Including Washington, D.C.’s three electors, there are a
total of 538 electors in all. U.S. territory residents don’t vote in the Presidential election and
are not represented in the Electoral College.
Each state’s political parties choose their own slate of potential electors. Who is chosen to
be an elector, how, and when varies by state.

After you cast your ballot for President, your vote goes to a statewide tally. In 48 states and
Washington, D.C., the winner gets all of the electoral votes for that state. This means his or
her party’s electors in that state will vote in the Electoral College. Maine and Nebraska
assign their electors using a proportional system called the Congressional District Method.

A candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors—more than half—to win the Presidential
election.

Although the actual vote of the Electoral College takes place in each state on December 19,
in most cases, a projected winner can be announced on election night.

The Constitution doesn’t require electors to vote according to the popular vote of the
people they represent. But it’s rare for an elector not to follow the people’s—and their
party’s—choice.

Special Situations

Winning the Popular Vote but Losing the Election

Though uncommon, it is possible to win the Electoral College, but lose the popular vote.
That means that a candidate can win a combination of states and reach the 270 electors
mark without winning the majority of votes across the country. This has happened five
times in American elections, most recently in 2016.

What Happens if No Candidate Gets 270 Electoral Votes?

In the rare event that no candidate gets the needed 270 electoral votes, the decision would
go to the House of Representatives, who would vote to elect the new President from among
the top three candidates. A similar process would take place in the Senate to elect the Vice
President from among the top two candidates. The only time this has happened was during
the 1824 election when John Quincy Adams received the most votes in the House of
Representatives after no candidate won a majority of the Electoral College.

How to Change the Electoral College

Because the Electoral College process is part of the U.S. Constitution, it would be necessary
to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system. For more information, contact
your U.S. Senator or your U.S. Representative.
Powers of US President

The constitution declares in Art.2, “The executive powers shall be vested in the president of
the United States. He should hold his office during a term of four years. “He is the head of
executive in name as well as in fact.

Powers and functions:

The U.S president is the most powerful executive of the world. He exercises the greatest
amount of power ever wielded by a man in a democracy.

Prof. Laski correctly summarizes his position, when he says:

Dictators and absolute monarchs apart, he is the most powerful single executive in the
world. He is at once the chief formulator of the public policy, the leader of a major political
party, Chief architect of the U.S foreign policy and the chief spokesman of United States in
foreign relations.

It is difficult to believe that the modern presidency was created in this form by the founding
fathers.

They never intended to do anything that would lead directly or indirectly to the
accumulation of powers. What they desired to have a single executive head, a post of honor
and leadership, rather than that of commending authority. The modern presidency is the
result of practical experience.

A. Executive Powers:

1. Chief Administrator: The president is the chief executive. The constitution has entrusted
upon him the responsibility “to take care that the laws be faithfully enacted “. He is assisted
by different government officials in this task.

2. Powers of appointment: The president appoints all the federal officials with the approval
of senate. Normally the senate does not interfere in the appointment of ministers,
ambassadors and other diplomats. The appointment of the judges of the supreme court in
scrutinized thoroughly.

3. Powers of Removal: The president can remove federal officials in his discretion except the
judges of the Supreme Court who can be removed only through impeachment.

4. Diplomatic Powers: The foreign relations of united states are almost completely under the
general directions of the president, with one very important restrictions that no treaty
concluded by him with a foreign power becomes effective unless passed by the senate by
2/3 rd majority. He is the chief spokesman for United States in foreign relations. He
appointment different ambassadors and diplomats from abroad. He has the sole power to
recognize or reject new states. But all these functions are not performed by him personally.
Most of these tasks are performed by the secretary of state.

5. Role in Defense:
The president is responsible for the defense of the country. He is the chief executive and
supreme commander of the military and as such appoints a large number of high military
officials in his own discretion. Although declaration of war is a matter that falls in the
domain of congress but the president may create such a situation that the declaration of
war becomes inevitable. After the declaration of war he can resort to emergency powers

6. Supervision of administrative powers:

Over the past 200 years the United States has moved from a system of administration based
on a handful of departments to a system manned by almost 3 million people. The largest
expansion has occurred in the field of administrative agencies.
B. Legislative Powers:

The U.S government is based on the principle of separation of powers. This means that
there is no direct relationship between the executive and legislature. Neither the executive
is drawn from the legislature, nor is its term dependent upon the legislature. But absolute
independence would have produced deadlocks.

As Madison observed:
“Separation of powers was not to mean that the three branches of the government should
be wholly unconnected with each other.”

Thus, by means of checks and balances, a share has been provided in each other’s powers.
The president can influence the legislation in the following ways:

1. Messages: The Constitution in Art 2 Sec 3 declares that “he shall from time to time give
information of the state of the union to the congress “. The time, place and manner of
sending these messages to the congress depend upon the discretion of the president. As a
matter of usage, a custom has developed that the president sends a comprehensive
message known as the “State of the union message” at the time of beginning of every
session in January of each year. This message includes all the proposals items which in the
opinion of the president require the consideration of the congress. Apart from these annual
messages, he may send special messages from time to time. All these proposals by the
president are given consideration by the congress during legislation.

2. Extra ordinary session:

3. Presidential veto: Art 1 sec 7 of the constitution gives the power to the president. All the
bills passed by the congress have to be submitted to the president, who may give his assent
or veto a bill. The bill to which the president withholds his assent is sent back to the house
of its origin along with his objections. If the congress again passes that bill with a 2/3 rd
majority, it becomes a law without the consent of the president.

4. Executive Decrees:

The president has been authorized to issue executive decrees and orders which are valid as
laws.
C. Financial Powers :

The federal budget is proposed by the bureau of budget under the direction of the
president. The director of the bureau remains in contact with the president. The bill is
presented in the congress on the behalf of the president. Generally, the estimates proposed
by the president are approved by the congress. During an emergency the president may
spend as much money as he wants in his own discretion.

D. Judicial Powers:
The president appoints the federal judges with the approval of the senate . The president
grants pardons and general amnesty. Constitution declares in Art 3 Sec 2 that
“The president shall have powers to grant reprieves and pardon for the offences against the
United States, except in the cases of impeachment.”

E. Miscellaneous Powers:

The president, as head of state, receives foreign heads of the state in his country. As a
leader of his party, he plays an important role in selection of various officials for different
elected bodies. He is an ex-officio member of various bodies.
Conclusion:

Lord Bryce in “American commonwealth” comments: