The winner of the presidential election has enormous power to affect domestic and international policies and is in charge of running the federal government. The President also nominates Supreme Court justices and judges to lower federal courts.
The President and Vice President are elected every four years by the people through a process known as the electoral college. It was established in Article I of the Constitution as a compromise between using a state’s representatives in Congress to elect the president and using popular vote to select one candidate.
Each state is awarded a number of electoral votes based on its population. Each elector casts two votes—one for the president and one for the vice president. In all but Maine and Nebraska, the electoral votes go to a single candidate who receives the most votes statewide (“winner take all”). This system has encouraged candidates to spend exponentially more time and money in states where they have traditionally had strong support, while neglecting smaller regions of the country.
In this election, many Americans are concerned about the future of democracy in the United States. In fact, according to the latest poll, it ranks second in importance behind the economy as a national issue.
Douglas Kucmerowski, a 67-year-old independent from Monroe, New York, agrees with that assessment. He points to a “lack of real accountability and the loss of rights” as some of the reasons why he believes that we’re not living in a full democracy.
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