Elections

Once nominated, the candidates must face each other in general elections. These are the funal elections where voters choose the person who will take office. Both the States and the National Government have laws to help keep electons free, honest, and accurate.

The Constitution says Congress can decide "the times, places, and manner of holding elections" for its members. Congress has set its election day as the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of every even numbered year. MostStates elect their officials on the same day.

One interesting thing that happens in many elections is the coattail effect. When voters like a strong candidate running for high office, they may also vote for other candidates in that person's party. These other candidates may "ride the coattails" of the party's popular candidate and win.

In our early history, American voters often voted by voice. By the mid 1800's, voters used ballots. A ballot is the paper of card on which a voter marks a choice in an election. Today, most states use a kind of ballot that was first used in Australia. The ballot usually has four important features.

On some ballots, all candidates for a certain office are grouped together. This is called the office-group ballot. Other ballots are party-column ballots. These list each party's candidates in a column. This kind of ballot encourages people to vote for a party rather than an individual.

Casting a ballot is another name for voting. Where voters cast their ballots depend on two things. The first is the precinct, or voting district in which the voters live. The second is the precnct's polling place, or the building where voters actually vote.

Some areas use voting machines that allow a voter to cast one vote per office. Voting machines help keep elections honest. New ways of voting include counting votes electruonically and allowing citizens to vote by mail.