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Although the nationwide popular vote does not directly determine the winner of a presidential election, it does strongly correlate with who is the victor. In 54 of the 59 total elections held so far (about 91 percent), the winner of the national popular vote has also carried the Electoral College vote.
Presidential elections: Elections for the U.S. President are held every four years, coinciding with those for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the Senate. Midterm elections: They occur two years after each presidential election.
An election for president of the United States happens every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Senators are elected to six-year terms, and every two years the members of one class—approximately one-third of the senators—face election or reelection.
A senator’s term of office is six years and approximately one-third of the total membership of the Senate is elected every two years. Look up brief biographies of Senators from 1774 to the present in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Legal requirements for presidential candidates have remained the same since the year Washington accepted the presidency. As directed by the Constitution, a presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older.
Elections in the United States are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. … All elections—federal, state, and local—are administered by the individual states. The restriction and extension of voting rights to different groups has been a contested process throughout United States history.
Since the “right to vote” is not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution except in the above referenced amendments, and only in reference to the fact that the franchise cannot be denied or abridged based solely on the aforementioned qualifications, the “right to vote” is perhaps better understood, in layman’s terms, …
To guarantee senators’ independence from short-term political pressures, the framers designed a six-year Senate term, three times as long as that of popularly elected members of the House of Representatives. Madison reasoned that longer terms would provide stability.
Position | Salary |
---|---|
Senators and House Representatives | $174,000 |
Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico | $174,000 |
President pro tempore of the Senate | $193,400 |
Majority leader and minority leader of the Senate | $193,400 |
For this reason, and in order to distinguish who is a member of which house, a member of the Senate is typically referred to as Senator (followed by “name” from “state”), and a member of the House of Representatives is usually referred to as Congressman or Congresswoman (followed by “name” from the “number” district of …
state | representatives |
---|---|
Alaska | 1 |
Arizona | 9 |
Arkansas | 4 |
California | 53 |
The 17th Amendment to the Constitution requires Senators to be elected by a direct vote of those she or he will represent. Election winners are decided by the plurality rule. That is, the person who receives the highest number of votes wins.
Age of presidents
The youngest person to assume the presidency was Theodore Roosevelt, who, at the age of 42, succeeded to the office after the assassination of William McKinley. The youngest to become president by election was John F. Kennedy, who was inaugurated at age 43.
Joe Biden is the 46th and current president of the United States, having assumed office on January 20, 2021.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 12: [The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; . . .
The Secretary of State’s Elections Division has a wide variety of responsibilities in administering elections in California. Among its many duties, the Elections Division: Certifies the official lists of candidates running for state offices.
The Twenty-third Amendment (Amendment XXIII) to the United States Constitution extends the right to participate in presidential elections to the District of Columbia.
The Twenty-fourth Amendment (Amendment XXIV) of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax.
The Constitution simply states that “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations” (Article I, section 4).
Members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are considered for reelection every even year. Senators however, serve six-year terms and elections to the Senate are staggered over even years so that only about 1/3 of the Senate is up for reelection during any election.
Connecticut Delegate Roger Sherman spoke of the necessity of regular elections during the Convention: “Representatives ought to return home and mix with the people. … The Convention settled on two-year terms for Members of the House as a true compromise between the one- and three-year factions.
Why do senators have longer terms than members of the House of Representatives? To make sure senators are somewhat insulated form the people. What is the most common style of representation in Congress? Members of Congress generally hold multiple goals.
Members of Congress pay income taxes just like every other American. The U.S. tax code states that everyone who receives revenue must pay an income tax, including Representatives and Senators. … FACT: Members of Congress do not receive free housing or any housing reimbursement.
All senators receive the same amount for the legislative assistance allowance. … The combined total of the three SOPOEA allowances can be used at the discretion of each Senator to pay for any type of official expenses they incur, including travel, office personnel or office supplies.
According to the Congressional Institute, a not-for-profit corporation that helps constituents better understand the national legislature, U.S. senators and representatives “must pay their federal income taxes like all citizens,” whether their income comes from private business, government salaries, military pay, or …
The Senate is widely considered both a more deliberative and more prestigious body than the House of Representatives due to its longer terms, smaller size, and statewide constituencies, which historically led to a more collegial and less partisan atmosphere.
The Senate has 100 members and is the upper house of the United States Congress. It is called the upper house because it has fewer members than the House of Representatives and has powers not granted to the House, such as giving approval to appointments of Cabinet secretaries and federal judges.
Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term serving the people of a specific congressional district. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees.
House of Representatives | |
---|---|
Structure | |
Seats | 360 |
Political groups | Majority All Progressives Congress (190) Minority People’s Democratic Party (151) Other parties (19) |
Length of term | 4 years |
On this date, the House passed the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, fixing the number of Representatives at 435. The U.S. Constitution called for at least one Representative per state and that no more than one for every 30,000 persons. Thus, the size of a state’s House delegation depended on its population.