United States presidential election

A nationwide process for choosing the United States president and vice president through state-based voting and the Electoral College.

Electoral College: The constitutional body of electors that formally chooses the United States president and vice president. Its state-by-state votes, rather than the national popular vote, determine the winner.
United States Constitution: The supreme law of the United States, establishing the federal government and defining its powers. Its provisions create the presidential office and the basic framework for selecting it.
United States Constitutional Convention: The 1787 gathering in Philadelphia that drafted the United States Constitution. Delegates created the Electoral College while negotiating how to select a president.
Winner-take-all electoral system: An electoral rule awarding all of a jurisdiction's seats or votes to the leading candidate. Most states use this rule to award electors, concentrating campaign attention on close states.
Direct election: A method in which voters directly determine the winner rather than choosing an intermediary body. It would replace the Electoral College with a national popular-vote rule.
United States presidential primary: A state or territorial contest that helps political parties select presidential nominees. Primaries and caucuses usually decide which candidates reach the general-election ballot.
Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution: The constitutional amendment limiting a person to election as president twice. It restricts who may stand for election after serving two elected terms.
Three-Fifths Compromise: An 1787 agreement that counted three-fifths of enslaved people for representation and direct taxation. Its population-counting rule affected states' representation and therefore their electoral votes.
United States presidential election, 2000: The election in which George W. Bush won the Electoral College after a disputed Florida recount. It showed how a narrow state result can decide the national outcome.
National Popular Vote Interstate Compact: An agreement among states to award their electors to the national popular-vote winner once enough states join. It seeks a popular-vote outcome without a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College.

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