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21 October 2010
Midterm Elections Determine Control of U.S. Congress
Washington — On November 2, Americans will cast their ballots to determine who will represent them in the 112th Congress, scheduled to convene in January 2011.
These elections, because they occur in even-numbered years at the halfway point of a presidential term, are known as midterm elections. This timing encourages pollsters and political pundits to view the outcomes as referendums on the policies of the current president, but that narrow interpretation can distract from their true importance.
In electing a new Congress every two years, American voters decide who will speak for them in crafting legislation, determining government spending and overseeing the activities of the executive branch. The Congress is the legislative branch within the three-pronged federal government. The others are the executive branch, led by the White House, and the judicial branch, headed by the Supreme Court. Each has a separate but equal role in governing the nation. As laid out in the U.S. Constitution, each branch checks and balances the powers of the others.
The U.S. Congress comprises two chambers: the Senate, to which members are elected for six-year terms; and the House of Representatives, whose members serve two-year terms. A U.S. president is limited to two terms, but there are no limits on how many terms a member of Congress may serve.
Each November of an even-numbered year, every one of the 435 House seats is filled by the will of the people, as expressed through the ballot box. Simultaneously, approximately one-third of the Senate is also elected, although that number varies from election to election because senators sometimes retire or die in the middle of their terms. In 2010, 37 senators will be elected or re-elected.
FAMILIAR CONCERNS, NEW VARIABLES
As in every U.S. election, a variety of factors affects voters’ decisions. In 2010, the economy will be a major concern, as the nation and world emerge from one of the most serious financial crises since the Great Depression. Voters are worried about unemployment, home foreclosures and taxes. They also are nervous about their retirement funds and the financial burdens — both personal and public — they might pass on to their children and grandchildren.
In 2010, “Independents” — voters not affiliated with either the Democratic or the Republican Party — are a growing component of the electorate, a development that has siphoned members away from each party. A CBS Television/New York Times poll released in April reported that 42 percent of Americans now identify themselves as Independents.
The rise of the tea party movement, which advocates limited government power and reduced government spending, has drawn voters away from the mainstream Republican Party. In some cases tea party–supported candidates have defeated well-established Republican candidates in primaries.
Another factor in 2010 races is the so-called “enthusiasm gap.” Political observers say that the high interest, especially among younger voters, during the 2008 campaign that culminated in the election of Barack Obama as president is not evident in 2010, at least among Democrats. Republicans, especially the tea party element within the party, seem to be more enthusiastic about the 2010 contests.
There has been much speculation in the media about whether 2010 will be a “wave” election, one that washes away a large number of those currently serving in Congress and switches political control in one or both chambers. Recent wave elections occurred in 2006, putting the Democrats in control of the House of Representatives, and in 1994, sweeping the Republicans, led by Georgia’s Newt Gingrich, into power.
Early polls suggested 2010 could be another wave, but more recent data suggest races are tightening. Two weeks before the elections, Republicans are cautiously optimistic about gaining control of the House of Representatives, but Democrats seem likely to retain control of the Senate.
Such an outcome would create a “divided” government in Washington, with one political party controlling the White House and the other controlling one or both chambers of Congress. That situation can make it more difficult to pass legislation but, conversely, can force greater compromise to break political logjams.
Americans seem very comfortable with creating divided governments, perhaps distrustful of empowering the federal government too broadly. Since 1968, only during the Jimmy Carter administration and the first two years of the Bill Clinton administration has the same party controlled the executive and legislative branches.
STATE AND LOCAL
As important as the congressional races are, they are a tiny fraction of the total number of elected posts U.S. voters will fill on Election Day.
At the state level, 37 governors will be elected, selections particularly important because in 2011 the once-in-a-decade process of redistricting the seats in the House of Representatives will occur. The governors elected in 2010 will play significant roles in determining how the boundaries of congressional districts are redrawn in light of the 2010 census data.
State legislators also will be chosen in many states on November 2, along with county executives, mayors, and city and town council members. Many jurisdictions also will elect attorneys general, treasurers, comptrollers and even judges.
The winners of these local races, although they lack the prestige and national import of congressional service, likely will have stronger effects on the day-to-day lives of their constituents as they serve out their terms, many working for small salaries or even without pay.
From emergency services like police and firefighters to the more mundane matters of trash collection and road maintenance, local governments are front lines of U.S. government and perhaps the purest expressions of American democracy.
31 October 2008
U.S. Election Day a Celebration of Political Activism
Volunteers, partisan and nonpartisan, keep the wheels of democracy turning
Washington -- Bright balloons bob above a sea of rainbow-colored signs as loudspeakers blare music and announcements, and people in hats and shirts emblazoned with slogans hand out fliers, stickers and buttons. Election Day in the United States often arrives dressed as a carnival, ready to attract attention and excite voter interest.
The day begins early. On November 4, in villages, towns and cities across the United States, thousands of volunteers will rise before dawn to lend a hand for the U.S. elections. Some will line up outside campaign headquarters, eager to pick up the flyers, pamphlets and signs they will distribute at polling places in the hope of still influencing voters’ decisions.
Others will go directly to the school cafeterias, gymnasiums and community centers that serve as polling places to assist in checking voter rolls, setting up voting machines and ensuring the elections are conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
For these dedicated volunteers, Election Day is the culmination of months of hard work – a day when volunteers of all ages and backgrounds enjoy the excitement and occasional chaos of democracy in action.
VOLUNTEERS ESSENTIAL TO U.S. POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS
A campaign worker’s involvement might have started with a newspaper article, a call for help from a community group or labor union, or a chance meeting with a prospective candidate. It might have been an issue on which he or she felt passionately that prompted a voter to give a candidate more than just a vote on Election Day. Whatever their initial reason for getting involved, these volunteers, most of them unpaid, lend their time and expertise to inform, educate and encourage their fellow voters to support specific candidates, political parties or issues.
Their involvement is essential to the U.S. election process. Most political organizations in the United States rely heavily on unpaid volunteers to mount effective campaigns, and both parties actively recruit volunteers on national, state and local levels.
In the United States, campaign workers perform a variety of tasks to promote their candidates’ messages and get out the vote:
• “Lit drops” involve distributing printed literature about a candidate to voters’ homes, with volunteers assigned a specific area.
• “Canvassing” involves knocking on the doors of homes to talk with voters.
• “Mailers” are campaign literature sent to voters’ homes, but volunteers prepare the material — folding letters and stuffing, stamping and addressing envelopes.
• “Phone-banking” involves hundreds, sometimes thousands, of phone calls to prospective voters, promoting candidates and encouraging participation in the election.
Months in advance of the election, volunteers start distributing signs for voters to place in their windows or yards and handing out literature at bus and subway stops. They attend rallies and fundraising events, wear T-shirts with campaign slogans and display flags and bumper stickers on their cars — all to demonstrate support for the candidates of their choice.
On Election Day, volunteers distribute campaign literature and voter information at polling places and serve as their parties’ witnesses to the legal conduct of voting. A long day’s work (sometimes more than 12 hours at the polls) is capped by an anxious wait at a “victory” party for news of whether their candidate won or lost the election.
THE IMPORTANCE OF NONPARTISAN VOLUNTEERS
Many other volunteers working on Election Day take a deliberately nonpartisan approach and work to educate rather than influence voters.
Members of the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization established in 1920, are dedicated to improving government and enhancing public policy through citizen education. The organization describes itself as “a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels” throughout the United States and its territories. Strictly nonpartisan, it neither supports nor opposes candidates for office at any level of government and acts as a respected neutral party in political events such as candidate debates. Some of its members also serve as election officials.
Every polling place in the United States relies on election officials to ensure fair, orderly voting, protect the rights of voters, and enforce voting laws and regulations. Requirements for serving as an election official vary from state to state, but all require officials to be registered voters. States also prohibit candidates seeking office, as well as members of the candidates’ families, from serving as election officials.
Election officials must undergo training before Election Day to become familiar with both the procedures and the machinery for voting. They learn how to assist voters without influencing, interfering with, or intruding upon the right to vote freely and secretly. Above all, election officials must be impartial. They cannot promote a specific candidate and cannot wear or display any items that advertise a candidate or a political party.
On November 5, the streamers will be down, the signs removed and all the related trappings of a spirited campaign season packed away, as the volunteers return to their usual routines and their newly elected leaders get on with the business of governance. And, in offices scattered across the nation, the planning will begin for the 2010 elections.
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A good weekendBenedito Ubiratã
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