英语视听博客

The election of the president is governed by Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution, as amended by Amendments XII, XXII, and XXIII. The president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by the Electoral College, whose members are selected from each state; the president and vice president serve four-year terms. These electors are appointed by mechanisms chosen by each state's legislature (prevailingly, by popular vote of the voters of each state). The individual who receives a majority of votes for president — as of 2008, 270 votes are needed for a majority — will be the president-elect of the United States; and the individual who receives a majority of electoral votes for vice president will be the vice president-elect of the United States. If no presidential candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College, then the president-elect will be selected by a vote of the House of Representatives, with each state receiving a single vote. If no vice presidential candidate receives a majority, then the vice president-elect will be selected by a vote of the Senate. Although rare, these latter scenarios have occurred twice in America's history; the House of Representatives chose the president in 1825, and the Senate chose the vice president in 1837.

Elections take place every four years on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November (although in many states early and absentee voting begins several weeks before Election Day). The elections are run by local election boards who ensure the fair and impartial nature of the election and prevent tampering of the results.

Neither the constitution, nor the XII, XXII, and XXIII amendments describe the manner for states to select their electoral college representatives. This means then that individual citizens are not granted the right to vote for president by the federal government but rather by their respective state or local governments. This does not mean the current system is unconstitutional; it is just not constitutionally protected and individual states do have a right therefore to bar their citizens from voting for President.