Voting is a key part of democracy and allows citizens to choose the representatives who will govern them. However, elections are only successful when voters turn out in large numbers. Many factors can affect voter participation, including barriers, misinformation, apathy, and cynicism. By promoting civic engagement and improving electoral systems, we can reduce these obstacles and build a stronger democracy.
Elections take place at different levels – local, state or province, and national. A local election for an alderman, for example, takes place in one ward or district of a city, while a national election for President is conducted across all states and territories.
Depending on the system in use, elections may be either proportional or majoritarian. Proportional voting systems include party-list proportional representation and various other multi-party PR systems, while majoritarian systems are characterized by first-past-the-post electoral systems, majority rule, and other types of single-winner plurality rules. Some systems are mixed, combining elements of both proportional and majoritarian methods.
After an election, the votes are tallied using different vote counting systems. The most common is first-past-the-post, where each ballot is a list of candidates with their names and their percentage of the total vote. Candidates with the fewest first preference votes are eliminated, and their votes are transferred to second (and third, fourth, etc.) preferences, until a quota is achieved and a winner declared. In the United States, a quorum of 538 electors is required for a candidate to win the presidency.