United States presidential election

For the most recent election, see United States presidential election, 2016. For the upcoming election, see United States presidential election, 2020.

See also: List of Presidents of the United States

The election of President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the 50 U.S. states or in Washington, D.C. cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the U.S. Electoral College, known as electors. These electors then in turn cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for President, and for Vice President. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes (at least 270 out of a total of 538, since the Twenty-Third Amendment granting voting rights to citizens of Washington, D.C.) is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes for President, the House of Representatives chooses the winner; if no one receives an absolute majority of the votes for Vice President, then the Senate chooses the winner.

The Electoral College and its procedure are established in the U.S. Constitution by Article II, Section 1, Clauses 2 and 4; and the Twelfth Amendment (which replaced Clause 3 after its ratification in 1804). Under Clause 2, each of the states casts as many electoral votes as the total number of its Senators and Representatives in Congress, while, per the Twenty-third Amendment ratified in 1961, Washington, D.C. casts the same number of electoral votes as the least-represented state, which is three. Also under Clause 2, the manner for choosing electors is determined by each state legislature, not directly by the federal government. Many state legislatures previously selected their electors directly, but over time all of them switched to using the popular vote to help determine electors, which persists today. Once chosen, electors generally cast their electoral votes for the candidate who won the plurality in their state, but at least 21 states do not have provisions that specifically address this behavior; those who vote in opposition to the plurality are known as "faithless" or "unpledged electors". In modern times, faithless and unpledged electors have not affected the ultimate outcome of an election, so the results can generally be determined based on the state-by-state popular vote.

Presidential elections occur quadrennially with registered voters casting their ballots on Election Day, which since 1845 has been the first Tuesday after November 1. This date coincides with the general elections of various other federal, state, and local races; since local governments are responsible for managing elections, these races typically all appear on one ballot. The Electoral College electors then formally cast their electoral votes on the first Monday after December 12 at their respective state capitals. Congress then certifies the results in early January, and the presidential term begins on Inauguration Day, which since the passage of the Twentieth Amendment has been set at January 20.

The nomination process, consisting of the primary elections and caucuses and the nominating conventions, was not specified in the Constitution, but was developed over time by the states and political parties. These primary elections are generally held between January and June before the general election in November, while the nominating conventions are held in the summer. Though not codified by law, political parties also follow an indirect election process, where voters in the 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who then in turn elect their party's presidential nominee. Each party may then choose a vice presidential running mate to join the ticket, which is either determined by choice of the nominee or by a second round of voting. Because of changes to national campaign finance laws since the 1970s regarding the disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns, presidential candidates from the major political parties usually declare their intentions to run as early as the spring of the previous calendar year before the election (almost 18 months before Inauguration Day).

A 2016 general election ballot, listing the presidential and vice presidential candidates

History

Article Two of the United States Constitution originally established the method of presidential elections, including the Electoral College. This was a result of a compromise between those constitutional framers who wanted the Congress to choose the president, and those who preferred a national popular vote.

Each state is allocated a number of electors that is equal to the size of its delegation in both houses of Congress combined. With the ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution in 1961, the District of Columbia is also granted a number of electors, equal to the number of those held by the least populous state. However, U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College.

Constitutionally, the manner for choosing electors is determined within each state by its legislature. During the first presidential election in 1789, only 6 of the 13 original states chose electors by any form of popular vote. Gradually throughout the years, the states began conducting popular elections to help choose their slate of electors, resulting in the overall, nationwide indirect election system that it is today.

Under the original system established by Article Two, electors could cast two votes to two different candidates for president. The candidate with the highest number of votes (provided it was a majority of the electoral votes) became the president, and the second-place candidate became the vice president. This presented a problem during the presidential election of 1800 when Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes as Thomas Jefferson and challenged Jefferson's election to the office. In the end, Jefferson was chosen as the president because of Alexander Hamilton's influence in the House of Representatives.

In response to the 1800 election, the 12th Amendment was passed, requiring electors to cast two distinct votes: one for President and another for Vice President. While this solved the problem at hand, it ultimately had the effect of lowering the prestige of the Vice Presidency, as the office was no longer for the leading challenger for the Presidency. The separate ballots for President and Vice President became something of a moot issue later in the 19th century when it became the norm for popular elections to determine a state's Electoral College delegation. Electors chosen this way are pledged to vote for a particular presidential and vice presidential candidate (offered by the same political party). So, while the Constitution says that the President and Vice President are chosen separately, in practice they are chosen together.

The 12th Amendment also established rules when no candidate wins a majority vote in the Electoral College. In the presidential election of 1824, Andrew Jackson received a plurality, but not a majority, of electoral votes cast. The election was thrown to the House of Representatives, and John Quincy Adams was elected to the presidency. A deep rivalry resulted between Andrew Jackson and House Speaker Henry Clay, who had also been a candidate in the election.

Since 1824, aside from the occasional "faithless elector," the popular vote determines the winner of a presidential election by determining the electoral vote, as each state or district's popular vote determines its electoral college vote. Although the nationwide popular vote does not directly determine the winner of a presidential election, it does strongly correlate with who is the victor. In 53 of the 58 total elections held so far (about 91 percent), the winner of the national popular vote has also carried the Electoral College vote. The winners of the nationwide popular vote and the Electoral College vote differ only in close elections. In highly competitive elections, candidates focus on turning out their vote in the contested swing states critical to winning an electoral college majority, so they do not try to maximize their popular vote by real or fraudulent vote increases in one-party areas.

However, candidates can fail to get the most votes in the nationwide popular vote in a Presidential election and still win that election. In the 1824 election, Jackson won the popular vote, but no one received the majority of electoral votes. According to the 12th Amendment in the Constitution, the House of Representatives must choose the president out of the top 3 people in the election. Clay had come fourth, so he threw his support to Adams, who then won. Because Adams later named Clay his Secretary of State, Jackson's supporters claimed that Adams gained the presidency by making a deal with Clay. Charges of a "corrupt bargain" followed Adams through his term.

Comparison of the popular vote totals since 1900.

  Republican

  Democrat

  All other candidates together

Then in 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016, the winner of electoral vote lost the popular vote outright. Numerous constitutional amendments have been submitted seeking to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular vote, but none has ever successfully passed both Houses of Congress. Another alternate proposal is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate compact whereby individual participating states agree to allocate their electors based on the winner of the national popular vote instead of just their respective statewide results.

The presidential election day was established on a Tuesday in the month of November because of the factors involved (weather, harvests and worship). When voters used to travel to the polls by horse, Tuesday was an ideal day because it allowed people to worship on Sunday, ride to their county seat on Monday, and vote on Tuesday–all before market day, Wednesday. The month of November also fits nicely between harvest time and harsh winter weather, which could be especially bad to people traveling by horse and buggy.

Until 1937, presidents were not sworn in until March 4 because it took so long to count and report ballots, and because of the winner's logistical issues of moving to the capital. With better technology and the 20th Amendment being passed, presidential inaugurations were moved to noon on January 20–allowing presidents to start their duties sooner.

The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 was enacted to increase disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns. Subsequent amendments to law require that candidates to a federal office must file a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission before they can receive contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or make expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000. Thus, this began a trend of presidential candidates declaring their intentions to run as early as the Spring of the previous calendar year so they can start raising and spending the money needed for their nationwide campaign.

The first president, George Washington, was elected as an independent. Since the election of his successor, John Adams, in 1796, all winners of U.S. presidential elections have represented one of two major parties. Third parties have taken second place only twice, in 1860 and 1912. The last time a third (independent) candidate achieved significant success (although still finishing in third place) was in 1992, and the last time a third-party candidate received any electoral votes not from faithless electors was in 1968.

Procedure

Eligibility requirements

The hand-written copy of the natural-born-citizen clause as it appeared in 1787

Article Two of the United States Constitution stipulates that for a person to serve as President, the individual must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for a period of no less than 14 years. A candidate may start running his or her campaign early before turning 35 years old or completing 14 years of residency, but must meet the age and residency requirements by Inauguration Day. The Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution also sets a term limit: a President cannot be elected to more than two terms.

The U.S. Constitution also has two provisions that apply to all federal offices in general, not just the presidency. Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 states that if the U.S. Congress convicts any officer on impeachment, they may also bar that person from holding any public office in the future. And Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the election to any federal office of any person who had held any federal or state office and then engaged in insurrection, rebellion or treason; this disqualification can be waived if such an individual gains the consent of two-thirds of both houses of Congress.

In addition, the Twelfth Amendment establishes that the Vice-President must meet all of the qualifications of being a President.

Although not a mandatory requirement, Federal campaign finance laws including the Federal Election Campaign Act state that a candidate who intends to receive contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or make expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000, among others, must first file a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. This has led presidential candidates, especially members from the two major political parties, to officially announce their intentions to run as early as the spring of the previous calendar year so they can start raising or spending the money needed for their nationwide campaign. Potential candidates usually form exploratory committees even earlier to determining the feasibility of them actually running.

Nominating process

Main articles: United States presidential primary and United States presidential nominating convention

A 2008 Democratic caucus meeting in Iowa City, Iowa. The Iowa caucuses are traditionally the first major electoral event of presidential primaries and caucuses.

Madison Square Garden in New York City, the site of the 1976, 1980, and 1992 Democratic National Conventions; and the 2004 Republican National Convention.

The floor of the 2008 Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The modern nominating process of U.S. presidential elections consists of two major parts: a series of presidential primary elections and caucuses held in each state, and the presidential nominating conventions held by each political party. This process was never included in the United States Constitution, and thus evolved over time by the political parties to clear the field of candidates.

The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while the caucuses are organized directly by the political parties. Some states hold only primary elections, some hold only caucuses, and others use a combination of both. These primaries and caucuses are staggered generally between January and June before the federal election, with Iowa and New Hampshire traditionally holding the first presidential state caucus and primary, respectively.

Like the general election, presidential caucuses or primaries are indirect elections. The major political parties officially vote for their presidential candidate at their respective nominating conventions, usually all held in the summer before the federal election. Depending on each state's law and state's political party rules, when voters cast ballots for a candidate in a presidential caucus or primary, they may be voting to award delegates "bound" to vote for a candidate at the presidential nominating conventions, or they may simply be expressing an opinion that the state party is not bound to follow in selecting delegates to their respective national convention.

Unlike the general election, voters in the U.S. territories can also elect delegates to the national conventions. Furthermore, each political party can determine how many delegates to allocate to each state and territory. In 2012 for example, the Democratic and Republican party conventions each used two different formulas to allocate delegates. The Democrats-based theirs on two main factors: the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the previous three presidential elections, and the number of electoral votes each state had in the Electoral College. In contrast, the Republicans assigned to each state 10 delegates, plus 3 delegates per congressional district. Both parties then gave fixed amounts of delegates to each territory, and finally bonus delegates to states and territories that passed certain criteria.

Along with delegates chosen during primaries and caucuses, state and U.S. territory delegations to both the Democratic and Republican party conventions also include "unpledged" delegates that have a vote. For Republicans, they consist of the three top party officials from each state and territory. Democrats have a more expansive group of unpledged delegates called "superdelegates", who are party leaders and elected officials.

Each party's presidential candidate also chooses a vice presidential nominee to run with him or her on the same ticket, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention.

If no single candidate has secured a majority of delegates (including both pledged and unpledged), then a "brokered convention" results. All pledged delegates are then "released" and are able to switch their allegiance to a different candidate. Thereafter, the nomination is decided through a process of alternating political horse trading, and additional rounds of re-votes.

The conventions have historically been held inside convention centers, but since the late 20th century both the Democratic and Republican parties have favored sports arenas and domed stadiums to accommodate the increasing attendance.

The popular vote on Election Day

A Texas voter about to mark a selection for president on a ballot, 2008 Election Day

Under the United States Constitution, the manner of choosing electors for the Electoral College is determined by each state's legislature. Although each state designates electors by popular vote, other methods are allowed. For instance, instead of having a popular vote, a number of states used to select presidential electors by a direct vote of the state legislature itself.

However, federal law does specify that all electors must be selected on the same day, which is "the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November," i.e., a Tuesday no earlier than November 2 and no later than November 8. Today, the states and the District of Columbia each conduct their own popular elections on Election Day to help determine their respective slate of electors. Thus, the presidential election is really an amalgamation of separate and simultaneous state elections instead of a single national election run by the federal government.

Like any other election in the United States, the eligibility of an individual for voting is set out in the Constitution and regulated at state level. The Constitution states that suffrage cannot be denied on grounds of race or color, sex or age for citizens eighteen years or older. Beyond these basic qualifications, it is the responsibility of state legislatures to regulate voter eligibility.

Generally, voters are required to vote on a ballot where they select the candidate of their choice. The presidential ballot is a vote "for the electors of a candidate" meaning that the voter is not voting for the candidate, but endorsing a slate of electors pledged to vote for a specific presidential and vice presidential candidate.

Many voting ballots allow a voter to "blanket vote" for all candidates in a particular political party or to select individual candidates on a line by line voting system. Which candidates appear on the voting ticket is determined through a legal process known as ballot access. Usually, the size of the candidate's political party and the results of the major nomination conventions determine who is pre-listed on the presidential ballot. Thus, the presidential election ticket will not list every candidate running for President, but only those who have secured a major party nomination or whose size of their political party warrants having been formally listed. Laws are in effect to have other candidates pre-listed on a ticket, provided that enough voters have endorsed the candidate, usually through a signature list.

The final way to be elected for president is to have one's name written in at the time of election as a write-in candidate. This is used for candidates who did not fulfill the legal requirements to be pre-listed on the voting ticket. It is also used by voters to express a distaste for the listed candidates, by writing in an alternative candidate for president such as Mickey Mouse or comedian Stephen Colbert (whose application was voted down by the South Carolina Democratic Party). In any event, a write-in candidate has never won an election for President of the United States.

Because U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College, U.S. citizens in those areas do not vote in the general election for President. Guam has held straw polls for president since the 1980 election to draw attention to this fact.

Electoral college

Main article: Electoral College (United States)

Electoral College map showing the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Republican candidate Donald Trump won the popular vote in 30 states (denoted in red) to capture 305 electoral votes (plus 1 electoral vote from Maine's second congressional district). Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 20 states and Washington, D.C. (denoted in blue) to capture 232 electoral votes.

Most state laws establish a winner-take-all system, wherein the ticket that wins a plurality of votes wins all of that state's allocated electoral votes, and thus has their slate of electors chosen to vote in the Electoral College. Maine and Nebraska do not use this method, instead giving two electoral votes to the statewide winner and one electoral vote to the winner of each Congressional district.

Each state's winning slate of electors then meets at their respective state's capital on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December to cast their electoral votes on separate ballots for President and Vice President. Although Electoral College members can technically vote for anyone under the U.S. Constitution, 24 states have laws to punish faithless electors, those who do not cast their electoral votes for the person whom they have pledged to elect.

In early January, the total Electoral College vote count is opened by the sitting Vice President, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate, and read aloud to a joint session of the incoming Congress, which was elected at the same time as the President.

If no candidate receives a majority of the electoral vote (at least 270), the President is determined by the rules outlined by the 12th Amendment. Specifically, the selection of President would then be decided by a contingent election in a ballot of the House of Representatives. For the purposes of electing the President, each state has only one vote. A ballot of the Senate is held to choose the Vice President. In this ballot, each senator has one vote. The House of Representatives has chosen the victor of the presidential race only twice, in 1800 and 1824; the Senate has chosen the victor of the vice-presidential race only once, in 1836.

If the President is not chosen by Inauguration Day, the Vice President-elect acts as President. If neither are chosen by then, Congress by law determines who shall act as President, pursuant to the 20th Amendment.

Unless there are faithless electors, disputes, or other controversies, the events in December and January mentioned above are largely a formality since the winner can be determined based on the state-by-state popular vote results. Between the general election and Inauguration Day, this apparent winner is referred to as the "President-elect" (unless it is a sitting President that has won re-election).

Election calendar

The typical periods of the presidential election process are as follows, with the dates corresponding to the 2016 general election:

• Spring 2015 – Candidates announce their intentions to run, and (if necessary) file their Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission
• August 2015 to March 2016 – Primary and caucus debates
• February 1 to June 14, 2016 – Primaries and caucuses
• April to August, 2016 – Nominating conventions (including those of the minor third parties)
• September and October, 2016 – Presidential election debates
• November 8, 2016 – Election Day
• December 19, 2016 – Electors cast their electoral votes
• January 6, 2017 – Congress counts and certifies the electoral votes
• January 20, 2017 – Inauguration Day

Trends

Previous experience

See also: List of Presidents of the United States by previous experience and List of Presidents of the United States by other offices held

John Adams was the first of 26 presidents who have been lawyers.

Among the 44 persons who have served as president, only Donald Trump had never held a position in either government or the military prior to taking office. The only previous experience that Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight D. Eisenhower had was in the military. Herbert Hoover previously served as the Secretary of Commerce. Everyone else served in elected public office before becoming president, such as being Vice President, a member of the United States Congress, or a state or territorial governor.

Fourteen Presidents also served as vice president. However, only John Adams (1796), Thomas Jefferson (1800), Martin Van Buren (1836), Richard Nixon (1968) and George H. W. Bush (1988) began their first term after winning an election. The remaining nine began their first term as president according to the presidential line of succession after the intra-term death or resignation of their predecessor. Of these, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson were subsequently elected to a full term of their own, while John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Gerald Ford were not. Ford's accession to the presidency is unique in American history in that he became vice president through the process prescribed by the Twenty-fifth Amendment rather than by winning an election, thus making him the only U.S. president to not have been elected to either office.

Sixteen presidents had previously served in the U.S. Senate, including four of the five who served between 1945 and 1974. However, only three were incumbent senators at the time they were elected president (Warren G. Harding in 1920, John F. Kennedy in 1960, and Barack Obama in 2008). Eighteen presidents had earlier served in the House of Representatives. However, only one was a sitting representative when elected to presidency (James A. Garfield in 1880).

Four of the last seven presidents (Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush) have been governors of a state. Geographically, these presidents were from either very large states (Reagan from California, Bush from Texas) or from a state south of the Mason–Dixon line and east of Texas (Carter from Georgia, Clinton from Arkansas). In all, sixteen presidents have been former governors, including seven who were incumbent governors at the time of their election to the presidency.

The most common job experience, occupation or profession of U.S. presidents has been lawyer; 26 presidents had served as attorneys. Twenty-two presidents were also in the military. Eight presidents had served as Cabinet Secretaries, with five of the six Presidents who served between 1801 and 1841 having held the office of U.S. Secretary of State.

After leaving office, one president, William Howard Taft, served as Chief Justice of the United States. Two others later served in Congress – John Quincy Adams, who served in the House, and Andrew Johnson, who served in the Senate.

Technology and media

See also: Social media in the United States presidential election, 2016

Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 "Daisy" advertisement

Advances in technology and media have also affected presidential campaigns. The invention of both radio and television have given way to the reliance of national political advertisements across those methods of communication. National advertisements such as Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 commercial "Daisy", Ronald Reagan's 1984 commercial "Morning in America", and George H. W. Bush's 1988 commercial "Revolving Door" became major factors in those respective elections. In 1992, George H. W. Bush's promise of "Read my lips: no new taxes" was extensively used in the commercials of Bill Clinton and Bush's other opponents with significant effect during the campaign.

Since the development of the internet in the mid-90s, Internet activism has also become an invaluable component of presidential campaigns, especially since 2000. The internet was first used in the 1996 presidential elections, but primarily as a brochure for the candidate online. It was only used by a few candidates and there is no evidence of any major effect on the outcomes of that election cycle.

In 2000, both candidates (George W. Bush and Al Gore) created, maintained and updated their campaign website. But it was not until the 2004 presidential election cycle was the potential value of the internet seen. By the summer of 2003, ten people competing in the 2004 presidential election had developed campaign websites. Howard Dean's campaign website from that year was considered a model for all future campaign websites. His website played a significant role in his overall campaign strategy. It allowed his supporters to read about his campaign platform and provide feedback, donate, get involved with the campaign, and connect with other supporters. A Gallup poll from January 2004 revealed that 49 percent of Americans have used the internet to get information about candidates, and 28 percent said that they use the internet to get this information frequently.

In 2008, the internet became a grassroots and a voice of the people tool—a way for the users to connect with each other and with the campaign, like Dean's website had done in 2004. All of the major candidates had a website and utilized social networking like Facebook and MySpace. The popularity of a candidate could be measured by the number of "friends" on these sites as well as on websites like Hitwise, which listed the number of hits all of the presidential candidate's websites had each week.

Internet channels such as YouTube were used by candidates to share speeches and ads for free. This also served as a forum for users to attack other candidates by uploading videos of gaffes.

A study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research Associates in November 2010 shows that 54 percent of adults in the United States used the internet to get information about the 2010 midterm elections and about specific candidates. This represents 73 percent of adult internet users. The study also showed that 22 percent of adult internet users used social network sites or Twitter to get information about and discuss the elections and 26 percent of all adults used cell phones to learn about or participate in campaigns.

E-campaigning as it has come to be called, is subject to very little regulation. On March 26, 2006, the Federal Election Commission voted unanimously to "not regulate political communication on the Internet, including emails, blogs and the creating of Web sites" This decision made only paid political ads placed on websites subject to campaign finance limitations. A comment was made about this decision by Roger Alan Stone of Advocacy Inc. which explains this loophole in the context of a political campaign: "A wealthy individual could purchase all of the e-mail addresses for registered voters in a congressional district…produce an Internet video ad, and e-mail it along with a link to the campaign contribution page…Not only would this activity not count against any contribution limits or independent expenditure requirements; it would never even need to be reported."

Criticisms

Main articles: Criticisms of the Electoral College, Criticisms of U.S. presidential primaries, and History of U.S. presidential nominating conventions

2012 Republican primaries and caucuses calendar.

  January 2012 (4)

  February 2012 (7)

  March 2012 (23)

  April 2012 (9)

  May 2012 (7)

  June 2012 (6)

2012 swing states, where the margin of victory was 8 percentage points or fewer.

  States won by Republican Mitt Romney by 0–4 percentage points

  States won by Democrat Barack Obama by 0–4 percentage points

  States won by Democrat Barack Obama by 4–8 percentage points

The presidential election process is controversial, with critics arguing that it is inherently undemocratic, and discourages voter participation and turnout in many areas of the country. Because of the staggered nature of the primary season, voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and other small states which traditionally hold their primaries and caucuses first in January usually have a major impact on the races. Campaign activity, media attention, and voter participation are usually higher in these states, as the candidates attempt to build momentum and generate a bandwagon effect in these early primaries. Conversely, voters in California and other large states which traditionally hold their primaries last in June usually end up having no say in who the presidential candidates will be. The races are usually over by then, and thus the campaigns, the media, and voters have little incentive to participate in these late primaries. As a result, more states vie for earlier primaries to claim a greater influence in the process. However, compressing the primary calendar in this way limits the ability of lesser-known candidates to effectively corral resources and raise their visibility among voters, especially when competing with better-known candidates who have more financial resources and the institutional backing of their party's establishment. Primary and caucus reform proposals include a National Primary held on a single day; or the Interregional Primary Plan, where states would be grouped into six regions, and each of the regions would rotate every election on who would hold their primaries first.

With the primary races usually over before June, the political conventions have mostly become scripted, ceremonial affairs. As the drama has left the conventions, and complaints grown that they were scripted and dull pep rallies, public interest and viewership has fallen off. After having offered gavel-to-gavel coverage of the major party conventions in the mid-20th century, the Big Three television networks now only devote approximately three hours of coverage (one hour per night).

Critics also argue that the Electoral College is archaic and inherently undemocratic. With all states, except Maine and Nebraska, using a winner-take-all system, both the Democratic and the Republican candidates are almost certain to win all the electoral votes from those states whose residents predominantly vote for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, respectively. This encourages presidential candidates to focus exponentially more time, money, and energy campaigning in a few so-called "swing states", states in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support. Such swing states like Ohio are inundated with campaign visits, saturation television advertising, get-out-the-vote efforts by party organizers, and debates. Meanwhile, candidates and political parties have no incentive to mount nationwide campaign efforts, or work to increase voter turnout, in predominately Democratic Party "safe states" like California or predominately Republican Party "safe states" like Texas. In practice, the winner-take-all system also both reinforces the country's two-party system and decreases the importance of third and minor political parties. Furthermore, a candidate can win the electoral vote without securing the greatest amount of the national popular vote, such as during the 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016 elections. In theory, it is possible to secure the necessary 270 electoral votes from just the top 11 populous states and then ignore the rest of the country.

Proposed changes to the election process

In 1844, Representative Samuel F. Vinton of Ohio proposed an amendment to the constitution that would replace the electoral college system with a lot system. The Joint Resolution called for each state to elect, by a simple majority, a presidential candidate of said state. Each state would notify Congress of the presidential election results. Congress would then inscribe the name of every state on uniform balls, equal to the number of said state's members of Congress, and deposit into a box. In a joint session of Congress, a ball would be drawn, and the elected candidate of the state of which is written on the drawn ball would be named President. A second ball would immediately be drawn after, and that state's candidate would be named Vice-President. The resolution did not pass the House. Representative Vinton proposed an identical amendment in 1846. Again, it was unsuccessful. The driving force behind the introduction of the resolution is unclear, as there is no recorded debate for either proposal.

Other constitutional amendments, such as the Every Vote Counts Amendment, have been proposed seeking to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular vote, which proponents argue would increase turnout and participation. Other proposed reforms include the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate compact without Congressional authorization, whereby individual participating states agree to allocate their electors based on the winner of the national popular vote, instead of voting their respective statewide results. Another proposal is for every state to simply adopt the District system used by Maine and Nebraska: give two electoral votes to the statewide winner and one electoral vote to the winner of each Congressional district. The Automatic Plan would replace the Electors with an automatic tallying of votes to eliminate the faithless elector affecting the outcome of the election. The Proportional Plan, often compared to the District Plan, would distribute electoral votes in each state in proportion to the popular vote, introducing third party effects in election outcomes. The House Plan would require a constitutional amendment to allocate electors based on the House apportionment alone to lessen small state advantage. Direct election plans and bonus plans have in common a higher valuation on the popular vote for president.

Electoral college results

See also: List of United States presidential elections by Electoral College margin and List of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin

This is a table of electoral college results. Included are candidates who received at least 1 electoral vote or at least 5% of the popular vote.

Year	Party	Presidential candidate	Vice presidential candidate	Popular vote	%	Electoral votes	Notes
1788	Independent	George Washington	None	43,782	100.0	69 / 138
	Federalist	John Adams		N/A	N/A	34 / 138
		John Jay				9 / 138
		Robert H. Harrison				6 / 138
		John Rutledge				6 / 138
		John Hancock				4 / 138
	Anti-Administration	George Clinton				3 / 138
	Federalist	Samuel Huntington				2 / 138
		John Milton				2 / 138
		James Armstrong				1 / 138
		Benjamin Lincoln				1 / 138
	Anti-Administration	Edward Telfair				1 / 138
1792	Independent	George Washington		28,579	100.0	132 / 264
	Federalist	John Adams		N/A	N/A	77 / 264
	Democratic-Republican	George Clinton				50 / 264
		Thomas Jefferson				4 / 264
		Aaron Burr				1 / 264
1796	Federalist	John Adams		35,726	53.4	71 / 276
	Democratic-Republican	Thomas Jefferson		31,115	46.6	68 / 276
	Federalist	Thomas Pinckney		N/A	N/A	59 / 276
	Democratic-Republican	Aaron Burr				30 / 276
		Samuel Adams				15 / 276
	Federalist	Oliver Ellsworth				11 / 276
	Democratic-Republican	George Clinton				7 / 276
	Federalist	John Jay				5 / 276
		James Iredell				3 / 276
	Independent	George Washington				2 / 276
	Democratic-Republican	John Henry				2 / 276
	Federalist	Samuel Johnston				2 / 276
		Charles Cotesworth Pinckney				1 / 276
1800	Democratic-Republican	Thomas Jefferson	Aaron Burr	41,330	61.4%	73 / 276
	Federalist	John Adams	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	25,952	38.6%	64 / 276
			John Jay			1 / 276
1804	Democratic-Republican	Thomas Jefferson	George Clinton	104,110	72.8%	162 / 176
	Federalist	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Rufus King	38,919	27.2%	14 / 176
1808	Democratic-Republican	James Madison	George Clinton	124,732	64.7%	113 / 176
			John Langdon			9 / 176
	Federalist	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Rufus King	62,431	32.4%	47 / 176
	Democratic-Republican	George Clinton	James Madison	N/A	N/A	3 / 176
			James Monroe			3 / 176
1812	Democratic-Republican	James Madison	Elbridge Gerry	140,431	50.4%	128 / 217
	Democratic-Republican/Federalist	DeWitt Clinton	Jared Ingersoll	132,781	47.6%	86 / 217
			Elbridge Gerry			3 / 217
1816	Democratic-Republican	James Monroe	Daniel D. Tompkins	76,592	68.2%	83 / 217
	Federalist	Rufus King	John Eager Howard	34,740	30.9%	22 / 217
			James Ross			5 / 217
			John Marshall			4 / 217
			Robert Goodloe Harper			3 / 217
1820	Democratic-Republican	James Monroe	Daniel D. Tompkins	87,343	80.6%	218 / 232
			Richard Stockton (Federalist)			8 / 232
			Daniel Rodney (Federalist)			4 / 232
			Robert Goodloe Harper (Federalist)			1 / 232
		John Quincy Adams	Richard Rush (Federalist)	N/A	N/A	1 / 232
1824	Democratic-Republican (Adams faction)	John Quincy Adams	John C. Calhoun	113,122	30.9%	74 / 261
			Andrew Jackson			9 / 261
			N/A			1 / 261
	Democratic-Republican (Jackson faction)	Andrew Jackson	John C. Calhoun	151,271	41.4%	99 / 261
	Democratic-Republican (Crawford faction)	William H. Crawford	Nathaniel Macon	40,856	11.2%	24 / 261
			Martin Van Buren			9 / 261
			John C. Calhoun			2 / 261
			Henry Clay			2 / 261
			Nathan Sanford			2 / 261
			Andrew Jackson			1 / 261
	Democratic-Republican (Clay faction)	Henry Clay	Nathan Sanford	47,531	13.0%	28 / 261
			John C. Calhoun			7 / 261
			Andrew Jackson			3 / 261
1828	Democratic	Andrew Jackson	John C. Calhoun	642,553	56.0%	171 / 261
			William Smith			7 / 261
	National Republican	John Quincy Adams	Richard Rush	500,897	43.6%	83 / 261
1832	Democratic	Andrew Jackson	Martin Van Buren	701,780	54.2%	189 / 286
			William Wilkins			30 / 286
	National Republican	Henry Clay	John Sergeant	484,205	37.4%	49 / 286
	Nullifier	John Floyd	Henry Lee	N/A	N/A	11 / 286
	Anti-Masonic	William Wirt	Amos Ellmaker	100,715	7.8%	7 / 286
1836	Democratic	Martin Van Buren	Richard Mentor Johnson	763,291	50.8%	147 / 294
			William Smith			23 / 294
	Whig	William Henry Harrison	Francis Granger	549,907	36.6%	63 / 294
			John Tyler			10 / 294
		Hugh L. White	John Tyler	146,107	9.7%	26 / 294
		Daniel Webster	Francis Granger	41,201	2.7%	14 / 294
		Willie Person Mangum	John Tyler	N/A	N/A	11 / 294
1840	Whig	William Henry Harrison	John Tyler	1,275,390	52.9%	234 / 294
	Democratic	Martin Van Buren	Richard Mentor Johnson	1,128,854	46.8%	48 / 294
			Littleton W. Tazewell			11 / 294
			James K. Polk			1 / 294
1844	Democratic	James K. Polk	George M. Dallas	1,339,494	49.5%	170 / 275
	Whig	Henry Clay	Theodore Frelinghuysen	1,300,004	48.1%	105 / 275
1848	Whig	Zachary Taylor	Millard Fillmore	1,361,393	47.3%	163 / 290
	Democratic	Lewis Cass	William Orlando Butler	1,223,460	42.5%	127 / 290
	Free Soil	Martin Van Buren	Charles Francis Adams Sr.	291,501	10.1%	0 / 290
1852	Democratic	Franklin Pierce	William R. King	1,607,510	50.8%	254 / 296
	Whig	Winfield Scott	William Alexander Graham	1,386,942	43.9%	42 / 296
	Free Soil	John P. Hale	George Washington Julian	155,210	4.9%	0 / 296
1856	Democratic	James Buchanan	John C. Breckinridge	1,836,072	45.3%	174 / 296
	Republican	John C. Frémont	William L. Dayton	1,342,345	33.1%	114 / 296
	American	Millard Fillmore	Andrew Jackson Donelson	873,053	21.6%	8 / 296
1860	Republican	Abraham Lincoln	Hannibal Hamlin	1,865,908	39.8%	180 / 303
	Democratic (Southern)	John C. Breckinridge	Joseph Lane	848,019	18.1%	72 / 303
	Constitutional Union	John Bell	Edward Everett	590,901	12.6%	39 / 303
	Democratic (Northern)	Stephen A. Douglas	Herschel V. Johnson	1,380,202	29.5%	12 / 303
1864	National Union/Republican	Abraham Lincoln	Andrew Johnson	2,218,388	55.0%	212 / 233
	Democratic	George B. McClellan	George H. Pendleton	1,812,807	45.0%	21 / 233
1868	Republican	Ulysses S. Grant	Schuyler Colfax	3,013,650	52.7%	214 / 294
	Democratic	Horatio Seymour	Francis Preston Blair Jr.	2,708,744	47.3%	80 / 294
1872	Republican	Ulysses S. Grant	Henry Wilson	3,598,235	55.6%	286 / 352
	Democratic	Thomas A. Hendricks	Benjamin Gratz Brown (Liberal Republican)	2,834,761	43.8%	41 / 352 42 / 352
			William S. Groesbeck			0 / 352 1 / 352
			George Washington Julian (Liberal Republican)			0 / 352 1 / 352
			John M. Palmer (Liberal Republican)			0 / 352 1 / 352
	Liberal Republican	Benjamin Gratz Brown	Alfred H. Colquitt (Democratic)			5 / 352
			George Washington Julian			4 / 352 5 / 352
			Thomas E. Bramlette (Democratic)			3 / 352
			John M. Palmer			2 / 352 3 / 352
			Nathaniel P. Banks			1 / 352
			Willis Benson Machen (Democratic)			1 / 352
			William S. Groesbeck (Democratic)			0 / 352 1 / 352
		Horace Greeley	Benjamin Gratz Brown			3 / 352
	Democratic	Charles J. Jenkins	Benjamin Gratz Brown			2 / 352
	Liberal Republican	David Davis	Benjamin Gratz Brown			0 / 352 1 / 352
			William S. Groesbeck (Democratic)			0 / 352 1 / 352
			George Washington Julian			0 / 352 1 / 352
			John M. Palmer			0 / 352 1 / 352
1876	Republican	Rutherford B. Hayes	William A. Wheeler	4,034,142	47.9%	185 / 369
	Democratic	Samuel J. Tilden	Thomas A. Hendricks	4,286,808	50.9%	184 / 369
1880	Republican	James A. Garfield	Chester A. Arthur	4,446,158	48.3%	214 / 369
	Democratic	Winfield Scott Hancock	William Hayden English	4,444,260	48.3%	155 / 369
1884	Democratic	Grover Cleveland	Thomas A. Hendricks	4,914,482	48.9%	219 / 401
	Republican	James G. Blaine	John A. Logan	4,856,903	48.3%	182 / 401
1888	Republican	Benjamin Harrison	Levi P. Morton	5,443,892	47.8%	233 / 401
	Democratic	Grover Cleveland	Allen G. Thurman	5,534,488	48.6%	168 / 401
1892	Democratic	Grover Cleveland	Adlai Stevenson I	5,553,898	46.0%	277 / 444
	Republican	Benjamin Harrison	Whitelaw Reid	5,190,819	43.0%	145 / 444
	Populist	James B. Weaver	James G. Field	1,026,595	8.5%	22 / 444
1896	Republican	William McKinley	Garret Hobart	7,111,607	51.0%	271 / 447
	Democratic/Populist	William Jennings Bryan	Arthur Sewall (Democratic)	6,509,052	46.7%	149 / 447
			Thomas E. Watson (Populist)			27 / 447
1900	Republican	William McKinley	Theodore Roosevelt	7,228,864	51.6%	292 / 447
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan	Adlai Stevenson I	6,370,932	45.5%	155 / 447
1904	Republican	Theodore Roosevelt	Charles W. Fairbanks	7,630,457	56.4%	336 / 476
	Democratic	Alton B. Parker	Henry G. Davis	5,083,880	37.6%	140 / 476
1908	Republican	William Howard Taft	James S. Sherman	7,678,335	51.6%	321 / 483
	Democratic	William Jennings Bryan	John W. Kern	6,408,979	43.0%	162 / 483
1912	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	Thomas R. Marshall	6,296,284	41.8%	435 / 531
	Progressive	Theodore Roosevelt	Hiram Johnson	4,122,721	27.4%	88 / 531
	Republican	William Howard Taft	Nicholas Murray Butler	3,486,242	23.2%	8 / 531
	Socialist	Eugene V. Debs	Emil Seidel	901,551	6.0%	0 / 531
1916	Democratic	Woodrow Wilson	Thomas R. Marshall	9,126,868	49.2%	277 / 531
	Republican	Charles Evans Hughes	Charles W. Fairbanks	8,548,728	46.1%	254 / 531
1920	Republican	Warren G. Harding	Calvin Coolidge	16,144,093	60.3%	404 / 531
	Democratic	James M. Cox	Franklin D. Roosevelt	9,139,661	34.2%	127 / 531
1924	Republican	Calvin Coolidge	Charles G. Dawes	15,723,789	54.0%	382 / 531
	Democratic	John W. Davis	Charles W. Bryan	8,386,242	28.8%	136 / 531
	Progressive	Robert La Follette	Burton K. Wheeler	4,831,706	16.6%	13 / 531
1928	Republican	Herbert Hoover	Charles Curtis	21,427,123	58.2%	444 / 531
	Democratic	Al Smith	Joseph Taylor Robinson	15,015,464	40.8%	87 / 531
1932	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	John Nance Garner	22,821,277	57.4%	472 / 531
	Republican	Herbert Hoover	Charles Curtis	15,761,254	39.7%	59 / 531
1936	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	John Nance Garner	27,752,648	60.8%	523 / 531
	Republican	Alf Landon	Frank Knox	16,681,862	36.5%	8 / 531
1940	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Henry A. Wallace	27,313,945	54.7%	449 / 531
	Republican	Wendell Willkie	Charles L. McNary	22,347,744	44.8%	82 / 531
1944	Democratic	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Harry S. Truman	25,612,916	53.4%	432 / 531
	Republican	Thomas E. Dewey	John W. Bricker	22,017,929	45.9%	99 / 531
1948	Democratic	Harry S. Truman	Alben W. Barkley	24,179,347	49.6%	303 / 531
	Republican	Thomas E. Dewey	Earl Warren	21,991,292	45.1%	189 / 531
	Dixiecrat	Strom Thurmond	Fielding L. Wright	1,175,930	2.4%	39 / 531
1952	Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Richard Nixon	34,075,529	55.2%	442 / 531
	Democratic	Adlai Stevenson II	John Sparkman	27,375,090	44.3%	89 / 531
1956	Republican	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Richard Nixon	35,579,180	57.4%	457 / 531
	Democratic	Adlai Stevenson II	Estes Kefauver	26,028,028	42.0%	73 / 531
		Walter Burgwyn Jones	Herman Talmadge	N/A	N/A	1 / 531
1960	Democratic	John F. Kennedy	Lyndon B. Johnson	34,220,984	49.7%	303 / 537
	Republican	Richard Nixon	Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.	34,108,157	49.6%	219 / 537
	Southern Democratic	Harry F. Byrd	Strom Thurmond	610,409	0.4%	14 / 537
			Barry Goldwater (Republican)			1 / 537
1964	Democratic	Lyndon B. Johnson	Hubert Humphrey	43,127,041	61.0%	486 / 538
	Republican	Barry Goldwater	William E. Miller	27,175,754	38.5%	52 / 538
1968	Republican	Richard Nixon	Spiro Agnew	31,783,783	43.4%	301 / 538
	Democratic	Hubert Humphrey	Edmund Muskie	31,271,839	42.7%	191 / 538
	American Independent	George Wallace	Curtis LeMay	9,901,118	13.5%	46 / 538
1972	Republican	Richard Nixon	Spiro Agnew	47,168,710	60.7%	520 / 538
	Democratic	George McGovern	Sargent Shriver	29,173,222	37.5%	17 / 538
	Libertarian	John Hospers	Tonie Nathan	3,674	<0.01%	1 / 538
1976	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	Walter Mondale	40,831,881	50.1%	297 / 538
	Republican	Gerald Ford	Bob Dole	39,148,634	48.0%	240 / 538
		Ronald Reagan		N/A	N/A	1 / 538
1980	Republican	Ronald Reagan	George H. W. Bush	43,903,230	50.7%	489 / 538
	Democratic	Jimmy Carter	Walter Mondale	35,480,115	41.0%	49 / 538
	Independent	John B. Anderson	Patrick Lucey	5,719,850	6.6%	0 / 538
1984	Republican	Ronald Reagan	George H. W. Bush	54,455,472	58.8%	525 / 538
	Democratic	Walter Mondale	Geraldine Ferraro	37,577,352	40.6%	13 / 538
1988	Republican	George H. W. Bush	Dan Quayle	48,886,597	53.4%	426 / 538
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	Lloyd Bentsen	41,809,476	45.6%	111 / 538
		Lloyd Bentsen	Michael Dukakis	N/A	N/A	1 / 538
1992	Democratic	Bill Clinton	Al Gore	44,909,806	43.0%	370 / 538
	Republican	George H. W. Bush	Dan Quayle	39,104,550	37.4%	168 / 538
	Independent	Ross Perot	James Stockdale	19,743,821	18.9%	0 / 538
1996	Democratic	Bill Clinton	Al Gore	47,401,185	49.2%	379 / 538
	Republican	Bob Dole	Jack Kemp	39,197,469	40.7%	159 / 538
	Reform	Ross Perot	Pat Choate	8,085,294	8.4%	0 / 538
2000	Republican	George W. Bush	Dick Cheney	50,456,002	47.9%	271 / 538
	Democratic	Al Gore	Joe Lieberman	50,999,897	48.4%	266 / 538
2004	Republican	George W. Bush	Dick Cheney	62,040,610	50.7%	286 / 538
	Democratic	John Kerry	John Edwards	59,028,444	48.3%	251 / 538
		John Edwards		5	<0.01%	1 / 538
2008	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	69,498,516	52.9%	365 / 538
	Republican	John McCain	Sarah Palin	59,948,323	45.7%	173 / 538
2012	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	65,915,795	51.1%	332 / 538
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	60,933,504	47.2%	206 / 538
2016	Republican	Donald Trump	Mike Pence	62,979,636	46.0%	304 / 538
		Ron Paul (Libertarian)		124	<0.01%	1 / 538
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton	Tim Kaine	65,844,610	48.1%	227 / 538
	Republican (cast by Democratic electors)	Colin Powell	Susan Collins	25	<0.01%	1 / 538
			Maria Cantwell (Democratic)			1 / 538
			Elizabeth Warren (Democratic)			1 / 538
	Republican	John Kasich	Carly Fiorina	2,684	<0.01%	1 / 538
	Democratic	Bernie Sanders	Elizabeth Warren	108,776	0.08%	1 / 538
		Faith Spotted Eagle	Winona LaDuke (Green)	N/A	N/A	1 / 538

Voter turnout

See also: Voter turnout in the United States presidential elections

Voter turnout in the 2004 and 2008 elections showed a noticeable increase over the turnout in 1996 and 2000. Prior to 2004, voter turnout in presidential elections had been decreasing while voter registration, measured in terms of voting age population (VAP) by the U.S. Census, has been increasing. The VAP figure, however, includes persons ineligible to vote – mainly non-citizens and ineligible felons – and excludes overseas eligible voters. Opinion is mixed on whether this decline was due to voter apathy. or an increase in ineligible voters on the rolls. The difference between these two measures are illustrated by analysis of turnout in the 2004 and 2008 elections. Voter turnout from the 2004 and 2008 election was "not statistically different," based on the voting age population used by a November 2008 U.S. Census survey of 50,000 households. If expressed in terms of vote eligible population (VEP), the 2008 national turnout rate was 61.7% from 131.3 million ballots cast for president, an increase of over 1.6 percentage points over the 60.1% turnout rate of 2004, and the highest since 1968.

Financial disclosures

Prior to 1967, many presidential candidates disclosed assets, stock holdings, and other information which might affect the public trust. In that year, Republican candidate George W. Romney went a step further and released his tax returns for the previous twelve years. Since then, many presidential candidates – including all major-party nominees from 1980 to 2012 – have released some of their returns, although few of the major party nominees have equaled or exceeded George Romney's twelve. The Tax History Project – a project directed by Joseph J. Thorndike and established of the nonprofit Tax Analysts group – has compiled the publicly released tax returns of presidents and presidential candidates (including primary candidates).

In 2016, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump broke with tradition, becoming the only major-party candidate since Gerald Ford in 1976 to not make any of his full tax returns public. Trump gave as a reason that he was being audited by the IRS. However, no law or precedent prevents a person from releasing their tax returns while under audit, and in fact President Richard M. Nixon released his tax returns while being audited.

Presidential coattails

Main article: Coattail effect

Presidential elections are held on the same date as those for all the seats in the United States House of Representatives, the full terms for 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate, the governorships in several U.S. states, and many state and local elections. Presidential candidates tend to bring out supporters who then vote for their party's candidates for those other offices. These other candidates are said to ride on the presidential candidates' coattails. Voter turnout is also generally higher during presidential election years than either midterm election years or odd-numbered election years.

Comparison with other U.S. general elections

See also: List of elections in the United States

Basic rotation of U.S. general elections (fixed terms only^[1])

Year	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028
Type	Presidential	Off-yeara	Midterm	Off-yearb	Presidential
President	Yes	No			Yes
Senate	Class I (33 seats)	No	Class II (33 seats)	No	Class III (34 seats)
House	All 435 seats[3]	No	All 435 seats[2]	No	All 435 seats[3]
Gubernatorial	11 states, 2 territories DE, IN, MO, MT, NH, NC, ND, UT, VT, WA, WV, AS, PR	2 states NJ, VA	36 states, DC, & 3 territories[4] AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IA, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, WI, WY, DC (Mayor), GU, MP, VI	3 states KY, LA, MS	11 states, 2 territories DE, IN, MO, MT, NH, NC, ND, UT, VT, WA, WV, AS, PR
Lieutenant gubernatorial[5]	5 states, 1 territory DE, MO, NC, VT, WA, AS	1 state VA	10 states[6] AL, AR, CA, GA, ID, NV, OK, RI, TX, VT	2 states LA, MS	5 states, 1 territory DE, MO, NC, VT, WA, AS
Secretary of state	7 states MO, MT, NC, OR, VT, WA, WV	None	26 states AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MA, MI, MN, NE, NV, NM, ND, OH, RI, SC, TX, VT, WI, WY	3 states KY, LA, MS	7 states MO, MT, NC, OR, VT, WA, WV
Attorney general	10 states IN, MO, MT, NC, OR, PA, UT, VT, WA, WV	1 state VA	30 states, DC, & 2 territories AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IA, KS, MD, MA, MI, MN, NE, NV, NM, NY, ND, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TX, VT, WI, DC, GU, MP	3 states KY, LA, MS	10 states IN, MO, MT, NC, OR, PA, UT, VT, WA, WV
State treasurer[7]	9 states MO, NC, ND, OR, PA, UT, VT, WA, WV	None	23 states AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, FL (CFO), ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MA, NE, NV, NM, OH, OK, RI, SC, VT, WI, WY	2 states KY, MS	9 states MO, NC, ND, OR, PA, UT, VT, WA, WV
State comptroller/controller	None	None	7 states CA, CT, IL, MD, NV, NY, SC	None	None
State auditor	9 states MT, NC, ND, PA, UT, VT, WA, WV, GU	None	15 states AL, AR, DE, IN, IA, MA, MN, MO, NE, NM, OH, OK, SD, VT, WY	1 state KY	9 states MT, NC, ND, PA, UT, VT, WA, WV, GU
Superintendent of public instruction	4 states MT, NC, ND, WA	1 state WI	8 states AZ, CA, GA, ID, OK, SC, SD (incl. Land), WY	None	4 states MT, NC, ND, WA
Agriculture commissioner	2 states NC, WV	None	6 states AL, FL, GA, IA, ND, SC	2 states KY, MS	2 states NC, WV
Insurance commissioner	3 states NC, ND, WA,	None	5 states DE, CA GA, KS, OK,	2 states LA, MS	3 states NC, ND, WA,
Other commissioners & elected officials	1 state NC (Labor)	None	8 states AZ (Mine Inspector), AR (Land), GA (Land), NM (Land), ND (Tax), OK (Labor), OR (Labor), TX (Land)	None	1 state NC (Labor)
State legislatures[8]	44 states, DC, & 5 territories AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IO, KS, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MN, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY, DC, AS, GU, MP, PR, VI	2 states VA, NJ	46 states, DC, & 4 territories AK, AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IO, KS, KY, ME, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MN, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY, DC, AS, GU, MP, VI	4 states LA, MS, NJ, VA	44 states, DC, & 5 territories AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IO, KA, KY, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, MN, NE, NV, NH, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WV, WI, WY, DC, AS, GU, MP, PR, VI
State boards of education [9]	8 states, DC, & 3 territories AL, CO, KS, MI, NE, OH, TX, UT, DC, GU, MP, VI	None	8 states, DC, & 3 territories AL, CO, KS, MI, NE, OH, TX, UT, DC, GU, MP, VI	None	8 states, DC, & 3 territories AL, CO, KS, MI, NE, OH, TX, UT, DC, GU, MP, VI
Other state, local, and tribal offices	Varies

¹ This table does not include special elections, which may be held to fill political offices that have become vacant between the regularly scheduled elections.

² As well as all six non-voting delegates of the U.S. House.

³ As well as five non-voting delegates of the U.S. House. The resident commissioner of Puerto Rico instead serves a four-year term that coincides with the presidential term.

⁴ The governors of New Hampshire and Vermont are each elected to two-year terms. The other 48 state governors and all five territorial governors serve four-year terms.

⁵ In 26 states and 3 territories the lieutenant governor is elected on the same ticket as the governor: AK, CO, CT, FL, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NY, ND, OH, PA, SC, SD, UT, WI, GU, MP, VI.

⁶ Like the governor, Vermont's other officials are each elected to two-year terms. All other state officers for all other states listed serve four-year terms.

⁷ In some states, the comptroller or controller has the duties equivalent to a treasurer. There are some states with both positions, so both have been included separately.

⁸ This list does not differentiate chambers of each legislature. Forty-nine state legislatures are bicameral; Nebraska is unicameral. Additionally, Washington, DC, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands are unicameral; the other territories are bicameral. All legislatures have varying terms for their members. Many have two-year terms for the lower house and four-year terms for the upper house. Some have all two-year terms and some all four-year terms. Arkansas has a combination of both two- and four-year terms in the same chamber.

⁹ Most states not listed here have a board appointed by the governor and legislature. All boards listed here have members that serve four-year staggered terms, except Colorado, which has six-year terms, and Guam, which has two-year terms. Most are elected statewide, some are elected from districts. Louisiana, Ohio, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands have additional members who are appointed.

See also

• Outline of American politics#Elections
• American election campaigns in the 19th century
• Elections in the United States
• First Party System, Federalists vs Jeffersonian Republicans, 1790s-1820s
• Second Party System, Democrats vs Whigs, 1830s-1850s
• Third Party System, Republicans vs Democrats, 1850s-1890s
• Fourth Party System, Republicans vs Democrats, 1890s-1930s; "Progressive Era"
• Fifth Party System, Democrats vs Republicans, 1930s-1960s
• Sixth Party System, Democrats vs Republicans, 1960s-present

Statistical forecasts:

• Electoral-vote.com
• FiveThirtyEight.com
• PollyVote
• 270towin

Further reading

• Schlesinger, Arthur. Jr., ed. History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008 (2011) 3 vol and 11 vol editions; detailed analysis of each election, with primary documents; online v. 1. 1789-1824 -- v. 2. 1824-1844 -- v. 3. 1848-1868 -- v. 4. 1872-1888 -- v. 5. 1892-1908 -- v. 6. 1912-1924 -- v. 7. 1928-1940 -- v. 8. 1944-1956 -- v. 9. 1960-1968 -- v. 10. 1972-1984 -- v. 11. 1988-2001

External links

• The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara: 52,000+ Presidential Documents)
• Electoral College Box Scores
• Teaching about Presidential Elections
• All the maps since 1840 by counties (French language site)
• Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
• History of U.S. Presidential Elections: 1789–2004
• Graphic election results from 1952 to 2008 broken down by state (Java Applet)
• A history of the presidency from the point of view of Vermont Discusses history of American presidential elections with two states as opposite "poles", Vermont, and Alabama
• The Living Room Candidate: A Compilation of Presidential Television Ads
• Presidential Elections, from History.com
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825
• How close were Presidential Elections? – Michael Sheppard, Michigan State University
• Better World Links on the U.S. Presidential Election
• Presidential Elections: Resource Guides from the Library of Congress
• Presidential Elections: Vacancies in Major-Party Candidacies and the Position of President-Elect from Congressional Research Service
• U.S. Election Statistics: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• "Electoral Votes" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905. This is a tabulation of the electoral votes by election year, and also includes the results for Vice President.

Statistical forecasts

• Election Projection
• 17 poll composite
• Princeton Election Consortium
• Gallup