Understanding Your Vote: Presidential Election

With the presidential election coming up this November, the pressure to vote has increased. In 2014, 19% of students eligible to vote made it to the ballots. This number had increased to 40% in 2018. This surge of student voting makes a huge impact on students’ voices across the country. When determining whether to exercise your right to vote, it can be helpful to understand the process of the presidential election.

Before a candidate can even be considered, there are three requirements to run for president that are established by the constitution: Candidates must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a U.S. resident for at least 14 years.

After meeting these qualifications, caucuses are held where party members discuss who they would vote for, and who they believe the best candidate would be. During Primary elections, members of the parties in a state election vote for the candidate that they want to represent them in the general election.

Following the primary elections, each of the major parties (republican and democrat) holds a convention. The purpose of the convention is to determine who the presidential nominee is.

After this, the presidential nominee determines who their vice president will be if that candidate receives the majority electoral votes. In the case that no candidate receives the majority, The House of Representatives chooses the president, and the Senate chooses the vice president.

Campaigning starts way before this, however, with the two main candidates now selected, they both have the task to gather votes and supporters before election day.

On election day, citizens in every state vote.

When citizens vote on election day, they are casting their vote for a group of people called electors. The number of electors each state receives is equivalent to the number of representatives and senators that each state has in congress. For example, Maryland has 8 Representatives and 2 Senators. This means Maryland gets a total of 10 electors. Each elector casts their vote, and of the 538 electors, a candidate is required to get 270 votes to win.