To my American friends

[greener]

Jer and I were having a discussion last night and we have a question.

What does your ballot look like? Do you vote directly for the presidential candidate, or is there a local representative that you vote for?

Thank you!

Comments

[aprilbunny_]

It varies depending upon precinct. Our precinct has a "Scantron" paper ballot where you fill in your vote with a pen and then scan it into a machine.

Yes, we vote directly for the President as well as many other local, state, and federal gov offices..however(if you know this already, sorry), the president is not decided by the popular vote-we use an electoral college voting system in which each state has a designated amount of electoral votes. It takes 270 electoral votes to win the election.

[greener]

Thanks April, I do know about the electoral college, but that bring up another question.

The candidate that wins the popular vote in a particular state wins ALL the electoral votes for that state, correct? Our election last month was much less complicated, to me anyway.

I think I'm winning last nights discussion.

[aprilbunny_]

That's the way it is in most states but the electorates in many states can legally vote for who they want when it's time to cast the official votes. Some states outlaw this though. Abraham Lincoln received 4 electoral votes that were pledged to Stephan Douglas.

[zenren]

The Electoral College needs to go away.

[emianne]

We vote for lots of things. Depending on your state, obviously, it's different.

I voted for a congressman, two state reps, four city council offices, about 9 local questions and 5 state questions.

[zenren]

we vote for the candidate. we fill in a little bubble like a scan-tron test.