Election Process In The United States

The election process in the United States is often a time where the country finds itself divided between political parties, but the election process is a time where the general public can exercise its power within the government. With all that in mind, one of the strengths of the elections in the U.S. is the opportunity it gives for the U.S. citizens to exercise their power. According to Fine & Levin-Waldman (2016), through elections, citizens express themselves as a political community, give their tacit acceptance of the constitutional arrangements that govern them, and achieve a peaceful transfer of power. In a democracy, it is always important to share the power with the people, one way this is done is through the election of government

This point is also evident, according to Cebula, Duquette, & Mixon (2013), when they say, “voter participation rates are positively related to real per-capita incomes among the electorate.” The election process is the U.S. citizens’ expression of power and the goal is to elect officials that will best represent the nation and protect the rights of the individuals and groups that elect the official into office and ultimately into power. In order to heighten the positive impact of elections in the U.S. giving citizens the opportunity to exercise their power would be to modify the Electoral College system to mirror that of Maine and Nebraska who use the congressional district method. Most elections in the United States are based on the popular vote except the Presidential election. During the Presidential election, voters are actually voting for the candidate that they want their Elector to vote for to be President of the United States. Based on this system, the public’s popular vote is not who always ends up becoming

The election process depends on voter turnout and participation, in order to fully exercise their right, U.S. citizens need to register to vote and vote during elections. According to Fine & Levin-Waldman (2016), registering to vote has proven to be a significant barrier for some groups and nonvoting tends to be more concentrated among lower-income groups. According to The Harvard Law Review Association (2006), a functioning democracy should make every effort to encourage broad participation. There are many factors on why there is low voter turnout and participation, one main factor is socioeconomic status, and access and means to register and vote. According to The Harvard Law Review Association (2006) those factors include, individuals who cannot comply with the documentation criteria such as those who do not receive utility bills, immigrant workers paid in cash, others that face significant difficulties in obtaining birth certificates or other documentation from states of prior residence and homeless individuals without traditional street addresses face additional obstacles to registering and voting. In order to lessen the negative impact of a that of voter participation is to loosen the reigns on the documentation requirements to register to