Voting system

A voting system or electoral system consists of the set of rules which must be followed for a vote to be considered valid, and how votes are counted and aggregated to yield a final result. It is a method by which voters make a choice between candidates, often in an election or on a policy referendum. Common voting systems are majority rule, proportional representation or plurality voting with a number of variations and methods such as first-past-the-post or preferential voting. The study of formally defined voting systems is called social choice theory or voting theory, a subfield of political science, economics, or mathematics.

Those who are unfamiliar with voting theory are often surprised to learn that voting systems other than majority rule exist, or that disagreements exist over what it means to be supported by a majority . Depending on the meaning chosen, the common "majority rule" systems can produce results that the majority does not support. If every election had only two choices, the winner would be determined using majority rule alone. However, when there are more than two options, there may not be a single option that is most liked or most disliked by a majority. A simple choice does not allow voters to express the ordering or the intensity of their feeling. Different voting systems may give very different results, particularly in cases where there is no clear majority preference.

Elections in the United States

The United States is a federation, with elected officials at the federal (national), state and local levels. On a national level, the head of state, the President, is elected indirectly by the people, through an Electoral College. Today, the electors virtually always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective Governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties and cities. According to political science professor Jennifer Lawless, there were 519,682 elected officials in the United States as of 2012.

State law regulates most aspects of the election, including primaries, the eligibility of voters (beyond the basic constitutional definition), the running of each state's electoral college, and the running of state and local elections. The United States Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how federal elections are held, in Article One and Article Two and various amendments. The federal government has also been involved in attempts to increase voter turnout, by measures such as the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

United States presidential election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, Senator from Massachusetts.

Bush and incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney were renominated by their party with no difficulty. Howard Dean was initially the frontrunner for the Democratic Party's nomination, but Kerry won nearly all of the primaries and caucuses. Kerry chose Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who had himself sought that party's 2004 presidential nomination, to be his running mate.

Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Domestic issues were debated as well, including the economy and jobs, health care, and moral values.

Bush's margin of victory in the popular vote was the smallest ever for a reelected incumbent president, but marked the first time since his father's victory 16 years prior that a candidate won a majority of the popular vote. The electoral map closely resembled that of 2000, with only three states changing sides: New Mexico and Iowa voted Republican in 2004 after having voted Democratic in 2000, while New Hampshire voted Democratic in 2004 after previously voting Republican. In the Electoral College, Bush received 286 votes to Kerry's 252.

United States elections, 2008

The 2008 United States general elections were held on November 4. The result was a significant victory for the Democratic Party on the national level, as they increased majorities in both houses of Congress and won the Presidency. Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain in the presidential election. Riding Obama's coattails, the Democrats also picked up net gains of 8 Senate seats and 21 House seats.

The governorships of 11 states and two U.S. territories were also up for election. Only one of them changed party hands: Democrat Jay Nixon won the Missouri gubernatorial election, replacing Republican Matt Blunt, who decided to retire instead of run for a second term.

The major theme during the campaign was the American public's general desire of change and reform from both Washington and the policies of outgoing Republican President George W. Bush (Bush was term limited out of office per the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution). The economy and other domestic policies were also dominant issues, especially during the last months of the campaign after the onset of the 2008 economic crisis.