Cultural Highlights: November: Election Day

Okay, let's get started.
There are three major American cultural events that I can think of that take place in November: Election Day, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. I'll cover all three eventually. I'm going to start with Election Day.

As a democratic society, America has elections for just about every public office. Everyone knows about the presidential elections, but there are A LOT of other offices we vote for. Senators, National Representative, State Senators, State Representatives, Governors, Mayors, Town Board Members, County Clerk, Judges, District Attorneys, Dog Wardens, Highway Superintendants, etc. etc., on and on ad nauseum. It's extremely difficult to find factual information on candidates, especially on a local level. Political commercials are a constant fixture on TV for months before Election Day, and they portray only the (skewed) best information and the (skewed) worst information about a candidate. It can be very difficult to figure out what's honest and what's being twisted to a candidate's advantage.

Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. As is typical for many American observances, there is a historical context for this date. It's after the harvest yet before the bad winter weather, so farmers could travel to polling places back in the day when your local polling place wasn't within a short distance. Also, the first day of the month, historically, has been an important day for conducting business and trade. In order to assure a good voter turnout, it was decided that Election Day should be on a day with minimal distractions from the necessary functions of daily life. Where you go to vote is based on where you live.

Any American citizen over the age of 18 and not a convicted felon can vote for any office that affects where they live. It is necessary to register with your local district before you vote. Registering to vote does hold some responsibility, because it opens you up to be called to serve on a jury. Once you register to vote, you are asked if you'd like to sign up with a political party. I think most Americans don't do this, but it has its advantages, which I'll get to in a minute. All American citizens are strongly encouraged to register to vote.

As you probably are already aware, there are two major political parties in the US, and candidates from these parties fill the vaaaaaast majority of elected offices. There are the Democrats, who are liberal, and the Republicans, who are conservative. There are also dozens of minor parties, like the Green Party, the Libertarians, and even the Communist party. Occasionally one of these candidates will achieve an office, but usually on a local level and not on the national stage. Candidates can also run independently of any party, but these candidates are often unsuccessful without the backing of party money and party members. As I said before, Americans can sign up to join a party when they register to vote. There's not an application process, and a party can't reject someone who wants to join. The major advantages to joining a party are: 1) a connection to like-minded people and funding if you decide to run for office someday and 2) the ability to vote in primary elections. Primary elections are the first round of the electoral process: all the Republicans run against each other to see who the Republican party wants their candidate to be. Democrats do the same. In some states, there are caucuses instead of primary elections. Caucuses are hard to explain, so look it up on Wikipedia if you want to know more.

Now, when it comes to actual voting, here's how it works. It's Election Day, and your local polling place is open from 6am to 9pm. You go to the polling place (you get a letter in the mail telling you where to go) and sign in. In many larger polling places at major elections, there are lines that can last for hours. Once you sign in, you are directed by an election official to the booth where you vote. There are many different types of ballots, but all of them essentially involve going into a closed-off area, marking the name of the person you want to vote for, turning in your ballot anonymously, and then leaving. We used a closed-ballot system, meaning no one sees your vote while it has been cast and all ballots are cast anonymously. Sometimes election officials will even not allow children to go in with their parents because of the anonymity of the voting process.

Are you confused enough yet? Well, it's about to get more confusing. American citizens don't actually vote for the president. You see, our founding fathers felt that the majority of white men (who, initially, were the only Americans allowed to vote) were too ignorant to actually do a good job at selecting a president. So they created something called the Electoral College. Members of the Electoral College vote for the president on behalf of the people they represent in their region. Average Joes and Janes cast their vote for their choice of candidate, and then the Electoral College representative votes for the president based on which candidate received the most votes in their district. This makes it possible for a presidential candidate to win the majority of "popular votes" (Average Joe and Jane) and yet still not win the election because of the way the Electoral College is set up. This has happened twice (I think) in US history, the most recent time being George W. Bush vs. Al Gore in 2000.

There are a lot of laws that govern the voting process. For instance, there is no campaigning allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. This allows for anonymous voting, because it used to be that people were intimidated to vote for candidates before they walked into the polling place, or even denied entry if they planned on voting for an opposing candidate. Also, employers have to allow their employees the chance to vote. They have to give at least 2 consecutive work-free hours to their employees during voting hours. When it comes to people who cannot go to a polling place to vote (such as people in nursing homes or hospitals, or people out of the country) they can cast absentee ballots and these have to be turned in well ahead of Election Day. These votes are typically counted later than Election Day votes, and rarely sway the result of an election.

Far too few Americans exercise their right to vote, especially in local elections, where voter turnout can be as low as in the 10-20% range. I promise my post on Thanksgiving and Black Friday won't be as long as this, but it's hard to talk about Election Day and not get too far into the whole political structure of the American Government. But like the old saying goes, don't discuss politics or religion with friends.