In the United States, between 35 and 60 percent of eligible voters do not vote. While there are many reasons why eligible voters choose not to vote, the two most common reasons are an unawareness of how to vote and a belief that their vote doesn’t matter.
To be an eligible voter, a person must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age on Election Day, meet their state’s residency requirements, and register to vote in advance. Ballots can be cast through mail-in ballots, for those who cannot vote in person, and in-person voting prior to Election Day; however, the majority of voting happens on the first Tuesday of November, which is known as Election Day.
The United States has both a larger, federal government that governs the country as a whole and fifty state governments that govern their respective state. There is at least one election every year for state and local governments across the country, varying on when the term is up, but every 4 years the U.S. elects a president. The U.S. does not elect our president based on the popular vote (i.e. the president who gets the most votes from citizens) but rather using an electoral college. The Electoral College is made up of 538 presidential electors. Each state is assigned a number of electoral votes for presidential elector based on state population, with 3 being the minimum votes. A candidate must reach 270 electoral votes to become president.
Breakdown of the Number of Electoral Vote Each State is Assigned
National Geographic Society, The Electoral College
In several states this year, a recount of popular votes was called for since the results were so close and there was a high volume of mail-in votes. As of the publication of this post, Former Vice President Joe Biden has been projected to receive beyond the 270 electoral votes required to become the next President of the United States.
To learn more about the impact that youth had in determining this election and how the results will impact environmental policy, please see the Youth4Nature USA Team’s analysis.
This blog was written and submitted by Sara Babcock, Y4N Global Ambassador.