Federal election how does it work

House of Representatives a candidate must have been a U. To serve in the U. Senate, a candidate must have been a U. To become president of the United States, a candidate must have lived in the country for at least 14 years, be a natural-born U. If these requirements are not met, a person cannot legally serve, even if elected. Nominating Procedures. A variety of nominating procedures are used to select candidates in the United States. Usually, any person who wants to run for an elective office must show that he or she has a minimum amount of public support.

A potential candidate might have to collect a minimum number of signatures of registered voters to qualify to appear on the ballot. Or a candidate might be nominated by a party caucus, which is an organized group of citizens that represents their party and have the authority to select its candidates.

In the case of presidential nominations, states send representatives called delegates to each party's presidential convention. At the convention, the delegates agree on a final candidate and publicly demonstrate their support for that candidate.

If more than one candidate from a single political party runs for the same office, it may be necessary to hold a primary election , which usually takes place several months before a general election. In a primary election, candidates from the same party run against one another to determine which of them will represent the party in the general election. In a closed primary voters may only cast votes for candidates within their own party.

In an open primary voters may cast votes for candidates in any party. Some states and local governments may hold a blanket primary , where party affiliations do not appear on the ballot by the candidates'names. This nonpartisan system is commonly used when electing judges. States require voters to be U. Traditionally voters also had to be at least 21 years old. This was based on an old Anglo-Saxon law that considered people adult at The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified approved by the states in , officially lowered the voting age to 18 for all elections, state and federal.

States also require various periods of residency before voting is permitted. Until the 's, some states required citizens to prove that they could read and write before voting. If an examiner decided a citizen could not read well enough, that citizen was denied the right to vote. In southern states, examiners used these literacy tests unfairly to deny most black people the right to vote. In , Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which suspended the use of most literacy tests, and several years later the tests were banned permanently.

According to the 26th Amendment to the U. Constitution, any U. The only major exceptions are convicted criminals and the mentally incompetent. But before a citizen can vote, he or she must register, or sign up, with the proper authorities except in North Dakota. In many states registration takes place through the mail, usually on forms available from the local registrar of voters.

In some other states, the person wishing to register must locate the proper public official and appear in person at the proper government office. Registration laws vary from state to state.

Typically the registration closing date, or deadline, is several weeks before an election day. In some states, citizens can register on the day of the election. If a citizen fails to register prior to the closing date, he or she will not be allowed to vote. Some states may require re-registration if a citizen fails to vote in every election, misses or certain number of elections, or changes address. Voting Districts. Each state, county, city, or ward is divided into voting districts called precints.

Citizens register to vote in the precint where they live. Elections for the members of the U. House of Representatives are conducted among candidates who live in a particular congressional district , which may include any number of precints.

According to Article I, Section 2 of the U. Constitution, the number of congressional districts each state may have is determined by its population. A national census is taken every ten years to determine state populations. A congressional district may cover a large or small territory, but each district within a state contains approximately the same number of citizens. On election day registered voters go to the polls to vote.

This means they appear in person at the official polling place in their precint. Public schools are often used for this purpose. The polls are open from early in the morning until late in the evening.

Canada has a first-past-the-post voting system. In contrast to voting systems where voters rank candidates, Canadians only vote for one candidate per ballot. The candidate with the most votes wins. This system can lead to some unusual results.

For example, one party might get the most popular votes overall but end up with fewer seats than another. This happened in the Federal Election. The Conservatives got over , more votes than the Liberals. But, the Conservatives wound up with only seats, while the Liberals obtained This is because the Conservatives won many ridings by landslides, while the Liberals often won ridings with narrow margins.

That contest saw the Liberals receive Almost always, this person will be the leader of the party that wins the most seats.

If one party wins more than half of all seats, they have a majority in Parliament. The result is that they can govern without support from any other party. If no single party wins a majority of the seats, then the government will be a minority government.

In this case, the largest party will usually form a formal or informal coalition with one or more smaller parties. The parties will negotiate and make deals. The smaller party will then support the larger party by either voting for it or abstaining, which means voting neither for nor against it.

Even a minority parliament usually produces a government. Voters and parties often do not want to go right back to another campaign, even if they are not happy with the recent results. Campaigns are draining for all involved — leaders, candidates, and voters. Federal law states that a parliament can hold an election at least every four years. There are also other ways they can occur. Date of polling a Saturday.

Not less than 23 days nor more than 31 days from date of nomination b. Not later than 30 days after the day appointed for the return of writs. The electoral rolls close at 8 pm seven days after the date of the writ. This cut-off applies both to alterations and new enrolments.

Amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act were made in closing the electoral rolls three working days after the date of the writ and stopping the processing of new enrolments at 8 pm on the day of the writ. To contest an election to the House of Representatives a person must be nominated by at least electors in the division he or she is to contest, or by the registered officer of the party endorsing him or her as a candidate.

Candidates of registered political parties [] may also be nominated in bulk for divisions of a State or Territory by the registered officer of the party. Bulk nominations must be made to the Australian Electoral Officer for the State or Territory no later than 48 hours prior to the close of nominations.

The declaration must also state that he or she will not be a candidate for any other election held on the same day, and give details of his or her Australian citizenship. A person who at the hour of nomination is a Member of a State Parliament or Territory Assembly may not be nominated. If unsuccessful, an Australian Public Service or Parliamentary Service employee who has resigned to contest an election must be reappointed to the service.

The deposit is returned if the candidate is elected or polls at least four per cent of the total first preference votes polled in the division. Should a candidate die during the nomination period the hour of nomination is extended by 24 hours to allow time for the nomination of an alternative candidate.

These provisions are based on the principle that no political party should be disadvantaged at an election because of the death of its candidate. In the division of Hume for the general election an independent candidate died after the close of nominations and a new writ was issued setting a new date for nominations.

The dates of the original writ for polling and the return of the writ were retained. A new writ was issued for a supplementary election, setting later dates for nominations, polling and the return of the writ.

In order to help ensure fair elections, the Commonwealth Electoral Act prohibits bribery, undue influence and a number of other practices, and provides for penalties for these offences.

Garland and a former Senator Mr G.