Elections in the USA (part I)

Before you read. Think over the following questions:

- Say some words about major changes that have recently taken place in the political life of your native country or the country your studies are connected with. What were the reasons for them? What have they resulted in?

Read the following text.

The nature of the electoral system in the United States of America is complex as there are many elections and not all of which are held at the same time. The president and vice-president, one-third of the Senate, and every member of the House ofRepresentatives are elected at the same time every four years, and two years later the mid-term elections involve all representatives and one-third of the Senate. Voters must meet a number of legal requirements or qualifications.Candidates who appear in the ballot must also have qualified under state law.

Voting is a basic right guaranteed by the US Constitution, but individual states set many requirements for voting, concerned with residence, the need to register, the holding of primary elections, and the form of the ballot.

The US Constitution provides for the popular election of members of the House of Representatives, but initially senators were appointed by state legislatures.

All members of the House are elected every two years, while one-third of the Senate is elected every two years, a senator serving for six years The Constitution does not provide for the popular election of the president.

Instead of voting directly for a president, the Constitution provides that each state shall appoint electorsequal in number to their representation in Congress, and the votes cast every four years in early November are for electors.

The presidential candidate receiving the most votes in a state obtains the whole of the Electoral College vote of that state. Each state sends its results to Washington, where the electoral votes are counted by Congress in joint session on 6 January. The candidate with a majority of the electoral votes is elected president.

The presidential election is the most important single election, and it can, and has, been criticized on several grounds.

First, the fact that if a candidate carries a state by a handful of votes he or she wins all of the electoral votes of that state. It is therefore possible for a president to be elected who has not received the largest number of popular votes.

Second, the ‘winner-takes-all’ system further distorts the popular vote in that some small states have a larger electoral college vote than their population might warrant (each state having two senators irrespective of population), while candidates are tempted to seek to win in the populous stateswith large electoral college votes, perhaps appealing to small voting blocswhose support could be decisive in these states.

Third, electors are not constitutionally bound to vote for the candidate to whom they are ostensibly pledged. In 1968 and 1972 single electors did defect. It is also possible for no candidate to win a majority of the electoral college vote necessary for election. Should this occur, the election is decided by the newly elected House of Representatives, each state delegation having one vote.

Exercises

1. Find equivalents of the following:

electoral system, the House of Representatives, mid-term elections, legal requirements,qualifications, in the ballot, qualified, under state law.

primary elections, popular election, electors, on several grounds, carries a state by a handful of votes, the ‘winner-takes-all’, to distort the popular vote, warrant, irrespective of, populous states, voting blocs, bound to vote, ostensibly, pledge, single electors,newly elected

2. Continue the following phrase as you wish:

Should this occur....

e.g.

Should this occur the local authorities will have to resign.

Translate into English

«победитель получает все», коллегия выборщиков, избирательная система, Палата представителей, голоса избирателей или прямое голосование, избирательный ценз, независимо от, якобы, по-видимости; служить основанием для ч.-л., промежуточные выборы; первичные выборы; небольшое количество голосов (горстка); подсчитывать голоса, вновь избранный