US Elections and Voting

The United States holds more elections than virtually any other democracy — federal, state, and local offices; primaries and generals; ballot initiatives and referenda. Understanding how the electoral system works is essential to participating in American democracy.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Explain how the Electoral College elects the President and why it can diverge from the national popular vote
• Distinguish primary elections from general elections, and closed, open, and jungle primaries from each other
• Describe how voters register, who is eligible to vote, and how eligibility varies by state
• Explain the major vehicles for campaign spending and how Citizens United v. FEC (2010) changed campaign finance
• Describe how redistricting and gerrymandering shape which party wins congressional seats
• Analyze why the Electoral College and partisan gerrymandering remain controversial

Quick Answer

US elections operate on a layered system: primaries (closed, open, or jungle) let parties pick their nominees, then general elections decide winners — usually by plain plurality, except the presidency, which is decided by the Electoral College (538 electors, 270 needed to win, winner-take-all in 48 states). Voters must actively register — there is no automatic national registration — and eligibility rules for felons vary sharply by state. Campaign spending exploded after Citizens United v. FEC (2010) let corporations and unions fund unlimited "independent expenditures," creating Super PACs. Every ten years, district lines are redrawn after the Census, opening the door to gerrymandering — drawing lines to favor one party, which the Supreme Court has allowed federal courts to ignore since Rucho v. Common Cause (2019).

Types of Elections

Election	When	What Is Elected
Presidential election	Every 4 years (2024, 2028...)	President and Vice President
Midterm election	Halfway between presidential elections (2022, 2026...)	All 435 House seats; 33–34 Senate seats; many governors and state legislators
Primary election	Before the general; varies by state	Each party selects its candidates
Special election	When a vacancy occurs	Single seat; called by governor or state law
Local elections	Year-round; often off-cycle	Mayor, city council, school board, judges
Ballot initiative/referendum	Often alongside other elections	Direct citizen votes on proposed laws

Voter Registration and Rights

Unlike many democracies, the US has no automatic national voter registration. Citizens must actively register, usually through:

• State DMV (when getting a driver's license)
• Mail-in registration
• Online registration (most states)
• National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter Act, 1993): Required states to offer registration at DMVs and public assistance agencies
• Automatic voter registration: 19+ states now automatically register eligible voters unless they opt out

Deadlines: Vary by state — some require registration 30 days before an election; others allow same-day registration at the polls.

Voting eligibility: US citizen, age 18+, meets state residency requirements. Rules for people with felony convictions vary significantly: Maine and Vermont let people vote even while incarcerated; most states restore voting rights after release or parole; a handful (like Mississippi) permanently disenfranchise many felons unless rights are individually restored.

Real example: In Florida, voters passed Amendment 4 in 2018 to automatically restore voting rights to most people with felony convictions after completing their sentence — but the state legislature then required outstanding fines and fees to be paid first, a rule courts upheld, leaving hundreds of thousands still unable to vote.

The Electoral College

The Electoral College is the mechanism by which the President and Vice President are elected. American voters do not directly elect the President — they elect electors who then formally elect the President.

How It Works

1. 538 total electors (435 House + 100 Senate + 3 for D.C. per the 23rd Amendment)
2. 270 electoral votes needed to win (majority)
3. Each state gets electoral votes = its House seats + 2 (Senate). Wyoming: 3. California: 54.
4. Winner-take-all in 48 states: The candidate who wins a state's popular vote gets all of its electoral votes (Maine and Nebraska use a district method)
5. Electors meet in December in their state capitals to formally cast votes
6. Congress counts electoral votes in early January; the VP presides

Criticisms and Controversies

• 2000 and 2016: The Electoral College winner lost the national popular vote (Bush/Gore; Trump/Clinton)
• Swing states: A handful of states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia) decide most elections — candidates spend little time in reliably red or blue states
• Faithless electors: Most states now have laws requiring electors to vote for the candidate they pledged; Chiafalo v. Washington (2020) upheld these laws

The Electoral College and Bush v. Gore (2000)

The 2000 presidential election ended with Florida's 25 electoral votes deciding the outcome. The Supreme Court stopped the recount in a 5-4 decision (Bush v. Gore), effectively awarding the election to George W. Bush. The decision remains one of the Court's most controversial.

Congressional Elections

House of Representatives

• All 435 seats elected every 2 years
• Single-member districts: Each congressional district elects one representative
• Winner determined by plurality (first-past-the-post) — whoever gets the most votes wins, even without a majority
• Districts are redrawn every 10 years after the Census

Senate

• 100 senators (2 per state); 6-year staggered terms (roughly 1/3 up for election every 2 years)
• Statewide elections: Senators are elected by the entire state, not a district
• Several states use jungle primaries (top-2 primary); most use traditional party primaries

Midterm Elections and Presidential Coattails

The president's party almost always loses seats in midterm elections. Since 1934, the president's party has lost an average of 28 House seats in midterms. Theories include voter fatigue, mobilization of the opposition, and regression to the mean.

Primaries vs. General Elections

A primary election decides who represents each party on the general-election ballot; a general election decides who actually wins the office. Primaries are intra-party contests — a Democrat cannot win a Republican primary — while general elections pit the parties' nominees (plus independents) against each other.

Types of Primaries

Type	Who Can Vote	Used In
Closed primary	Only registered party members	~20 states (Republican primaries in NY)
Semi-closed primary	Registered members + independents	~10 states
Open primary	Any registered voter, regardless of party	~20 states
Jungle primary (Top-2)	All voters vote in a single primary; top 2 advance	California, Washington, Louisiana

Real example: In a jungle primary, two candidates from the same party can face each other in the general election. In 2016, both general-election Senate candidates in California were Democrats (Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez) because they were the top two finishers in the primary.

Presidential Nominations

Presidential candidates are nominated at party conventions after a primary/caucus season:

• Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary are traditionally first
• Super Tuesday (early March): Multiple large states hold primaries simultaneously; often decisive
• Delegates are allocated proportionally (Democrats) or winner-take-all (many Republican contests)
• Superdelegates (Democrats): Party officials and elected leaders who can vote for any candidate at the convention; reformed in 2018 — now only count in contested conventions

Campaign Finance

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that corporations and unions have the same First Amendment free speech rights as individuals regarding political spending. The government cannot limit "independent expenditures" — spending by corporations and unions not coordinated with a candidate's campaign.

Impact: Created Super PACs (Political Action Committees) that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals — as long as they don't coordinate with candidates.

Current Landscape

Vehicle	Contribution Limits	Disclosure
Direct contribution to candidate	$3,300 per candidate per election (2024)	Yes
Political Action Committee (PAC)	$5,000/year from each donor	Yes
Super PAC	Unlimited; no coordination allowed	Yes
501(c)(4) "dark money"	Unlimited; from corporations, unions, and individuals	No — donor lists protected

Real example: In the 2020 election cycle, Super PACs like the pro-Biden "Priorities USA Action" and pro-Trump "America First Action" each raised well over $100 million - sums impossible for a single donor to give directly to a candidate under the $3,300 contribution limit.

FEC (Federal Election Commission)

The FEC is the independent agency that enforces federal campaign finance law. Critics argue it is often deadlocked (3 Republicans + 3 Democrats) and insufficiently enforces disclosure requirements.

Redistricting and Gerrymandering

Redistricting

Congressional and state legislative district lines are redrawn every 10 years after the Census to reflect population changes. In most states, the state legislature controls redistricting — a significant power because districts determine who votes in each race.

Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering — drawing district lines to favour one party or group — is as old as the republic (named for Governor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, 1812).

Two techniques:

• Packing: Concentrate the opposition's voters into a few districts where they win by huge margins → "wastes" their votes
• Cracking: Split opposition voters across multiple districts so they're a minority everywhere → they win nowhere

Legal status: Racial gerrymandering (drawing lines to minimise minority representation) is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment and Voting Rights Act. Partisan gerrymandering is legal — the Supreme Court held in Rucho v. Common Cause (2019) that federal courts cannot review partisan gerrymandering claims (though some state courts can).

Independent redistricting commissions: Arizona, California, Colorado, Michigan, and a handful of other states use independent commissions instead of legislatures to draw maps.

Key Terms

Term	Definition	Related Concept
Electoral College	Body of 538 electors who formally elect the President; 270 votes needed to win	Winner-take-all
Winner-take-all	Rule in 48 states awarding all electoral votes to the popular-vote winner in that state	Electoral College
Primary election	Intra-party contest to choose a party's nominee for the general election	Closed/open primary
Closed primary	Primary in which only registered party members may vote	Open primary
Jungle primary	Primary where all candidates from all parties run together and the top two advance	Top-2 primary
Citizens United v. FEC	2010 Supreme Court case allowing unlimited independent political spending by corporations and unions	Super PAC
Super PAC	Political committee that can raise and spend unlimited money if it does not coordinate with a candidate	Citizens United
Gerrymandering	Drawing district lines to benefit one party or group	Packing and cracking
Redistricting	Redrawing of congressional and legislative district lines every 10 years after the Census	Gerrymandering
National Voter Registration Act	1993 "Motor Voter" law requiring states to offer voter registration at DMVs and public assistance offices	Voter registration
Faithless elector	An elector who votes for someone other than the candidate they pledged to support	Chiafalo v. Washington

Common Mistakes

Misconception: The President is elected directly by the national popular vote. Why it's wrong: Voters cast ballots for electors, not directly for the candidate. Those electors then cast the votes that actually decide the presidency, and a candidate can win the Electoral College while losing the national popular vote — as happened in 2000 and 2016. Correct understanding: The presidency is decided by winning 270 of 538 electoral votes, which usually but not always tracks the national popular vote. Campaign strategy is built around winning individual swing states, not maximizing the nationwide vote total.

Misconception: A Super PAC can donate unlimited money directly to a candidate's campaign. Why it's wrong: Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts, but only on "independent expenditures" — ads and activities not coordinated with the candidate's own campaign. Direct contributions to candidates are still capped ($3,300 per election in 2024). Correct understanding: Citizens United freed corporations and unions to spend unlimited money independently, not to hand cash straight to campaigns. The distinction between "independent" and "coordinated" spending is the legal foundation the whole Super PAC system rests on.

Misconception: Gerrymandering that favors a political party is illegal, just like gerrymandering based on race. Why it's wrong: Racial gerrymandering violates the 14th Amendment and Voting Rights Act and is illegal. But in Rucho v. Common Cause (2019), the Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering — drawing lines to favor a political party — is a "political question" federal courts cannot resolve. Correct understanding: Partisan gerrymandering remains legal at the federal level, though some state constitutions and state courts do restrict it, and several states have shifted map-drawing to independent commissions to reduce it.

Comparison and Connections

Feature	Primary Election	General Election
Purpose	Choose each party's nominee	Choose the actual officeholder
Who can vote	Depends on type — closed, open, or jungle	Any registered, eligible voter
Competing	Candidates within the same party (mostly)	Nominees of different parties
Presidential contest method	State-by-state delegates (proportional or winner-take-all)	Electoral College (winner-take-all in 48 states)

Feature	Super PAC	Direct Candidate Contribution
Contribution limit	Unlimited	$3,300 per candidate per election (2024)
Coordination with candidate	Prohibited	Direct — goes straight to campaign
Legal basis	Citizens United v. FEC (2010)	Federal Election Campaign Act limits
Disclosure	Donors disclosed to FEC	Donors disclosed to FEC

Practice Questions

Recall

1. How many total electoral votes exist, and how many are needed to win the presidency? Answer guidance: 538 total electoral votes (435 House + 100 Senate + 3 for D.C.); 270 needed to win a majority.

2. What is the difference between a closed primary and an open primary? Answer guidance: A closed primary only allows registered members of that party to vote; an open primary allows any registered voter, regardless of party affiliation, to vote in that party's primary.

Understanding

3. Explain how "packing" and "cracking" work as gerrymandering techniques and why both benefit the party drawing the map. Answer guidance: Packing concentrates the opposing party's voters into a few districts so they win by huge, wasted margins there while the map-drawing party wins comfortably everywhere else. Cracking spreads opposing voters thinly across many districts so they never reach a majority anywhere. Both manipulate where votes count rather than who votes.

4. Why did Citizens United v. FEC lead directly to the creation of Super PACs? Answer guidance: The ruling held that corporations and unions have First Amendment rights to make unlimited independent political expenditures. Because that spending isn't coordinated with a candidate, it falls outside older contribution limits, which enabled the creation of Super PACs that pool this unlimited spending.

Application

5. A voter in Louisiana wants to vote for a Republican candidate for Congress but is registered as an independent. Louisiana uses a jungle primary. Can they vote, and what would the ballot look like? Answer guidance: Yes — in a jungle (top-two) primary, all candidates from all parties appear on one ballot open to every registered voter regardless of party. The voter picks any candidate; the top two vote-getters, even if from the same party, advance to the general election.

6. A presidential candidate wins the popular vote in 30 states, including several very large-population states by tiny margins, but the opponent wins several key swing states by comfortable margins. Explain how the loser of the popular vote could still win the Electoral College. Answer guidance: Because most states are winner-take-all, winning a state by one vote earns the same electoral votes as winning by a million — "wasted" landslide votes in safe states don't transfer to the electoral count. A candidate who narrowly wins many electoral-vote-rich swing states can accumulate 270+ electoral votes while losing the cumulative nationwide vote tally, as happened in 2000 and 2016.

Analysis

7. Some reformers propose abolishing the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote. Evaluate one argument for and one argument against this change. Answer guidance: For: it would ensure the winner of the most votes nationwide always wins, ending the mismatch seen in 2000 and 2016, and would force candidates to campaign everywhere rather than only in swing states. Against: it would concentrate campaigning in high-population urban centers, could undermine federalism by erasing states' distinct political voice, and any change would require a constitutional amendment (or the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an alternative that hasn't yet taken effect).

8. Rucho v. Common Cause (2019) held that federal courts cannot review partisan gerrymandering claims, while racial gerrymandering remains subject to judicial review. Analyze why the Court drew this distinction and what it implies about the limits of federal judicial power. Answer guidance: The majority reasoned that partisan gerrymandering, while distasteful, is inherently political — there is no neutral, judicially manageable standard for how much partisan advantage is "too much," since some degree of political consideration in redistricting is normal and expected. Racial gerrymandering, by contrast, is governed by clear constitutional and statutory standards (14th Amendment equal protection, Voting Rights Act) that give courts a workable legal test. The distinction shows the Court limiting its own role to disputes it believes it can resolve with legal, not political, judgment — pushing partisan gerrymandering fixes to state courts, state constitutions, and independent commissions instead.

FAQ

Why doesn't the US just elect the President by national popular vote? The Electoral College was a compromise at the Constitutional Convention between electing the President by Congress and by direct popular vote, and it also gave smaller states relatively more weight (since every state gets at least 3 electoral votes regardless of population). Changing it would require a constitutional amendment — extremely difficult — which is why reform efforts like the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact instead try to work around the existing system rather than replace it.

What's the difference between a caucus and a primary? A primary is a standard election with ballots cast (often by mail or at polling places throughout the day). A caucus is an in-person, meeting-based process where voters gather at a set time to discuss and vote, often more time-consuming and with lower turnout. Iowa was long famous for using caucuses, though many states, including Iowa for its 2020 process, have moved away from traditional caucuses toward primary-like systems.

Can a state's electors vote for a different candidate than the one who won that state? Legally, this used to be more open, but the Supreme Court's Chiafalo v. Washington (2020) decision upheld state laws that bind electors to vote for the candidate they pledged to support. "Faithless electors" have occurred historically but have never changed the outcome of a presidential election.

How is "dark money" different from a Super PAC's spending? Super PACs must publicly disclose their donors to the FEC, even though the amounts are unlimited. "Dark money" groups — typically organized as 501(c)(4) nonprofits — can also spend unlimited amounts on political activity but are not required to disclose their donors, making the ultimate source of the funding invisible to voters.

Why do independent redistricting commissions exist, and do they eliminate gerrymandering? States like Arizona, California, Colorado, and Michigan created independent commissions specifically to take map-drawing away from self-interested state legislators. They reduce, but don't fully eliminate, gerrymandering — commission members are still appointed through political processes, and legal challenges over commission maps still occur — but studies generally find commission-drawn maps are more competitive and less skewed than legislature-drawn ones.

Quick Revision

• No automatic national voter registration exists; citizens register via DMV, mail, online, or automatically in 19+ states
• The Electoral College has 538 total electors; 270 are needed to win the presidency
• 48 states use winner-take-all; Maine and Nebraska allocate some electoral votes by congressional district
• The popular-vote winner lost the Electoral College in 2000 (Bush/Gore) and 2016 (Trump/Clinton)
• Chiafalo v. Washington (2020) upheld state laws binding "faithless electors" to their pledged candidate
• Primary types: closed (party members only), open (any registered voter), jungle/top-2 (all candidates, all voters, top 2 advance)
• The president's party almost always loses House seats in midterms (average of 28 seats lost since 1934)
• Citizens United v. FEC (2010) allowed unlimited independent political spending by corporations and unions, creating Super PACs
• Super PACs can raise/spend unlimited money but cannot coordinate with candidates; direct contributions are capped at $3,300 per candidate per election (2024)
• 501(c)(4) "dark money" groups can spend unlimited amounts without disclosing donors
• Gerrymandering techniques: packing (concentrate opposition votes) and cracking (dilute opposition votes across districts)
• Racial gerrymandering is illegal under the 14th Amendment and Voting Rights Act; partisan gerrymandering was ruled non-justiciable in federal court by Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)

Related Topics

Prerequisites: The US Constitution and Founding (especially Article II and the 12th Amendment), basic structure of Congress and the presidency

Related Topics: Political Parties and the Party System, Civil Rights and Voting Rights (Voting Rights Act of 1965), Federalism (why states control most election administration)

Next Topics: The Three Branches of Government in depth; the Legislative Process and how elected officials turn campaign promises into law; landmark Supreme Court cases on elections and voting rights