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What Is Super Tuesday

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Having a Say on Super Tuesday

No, Super Tuesday isn’t a sporting event or a shopping day. It’s a day that has to do with politics and voting, a specific day in February or early March that generally sees millions of Americans voting for the primary presidential elections that take place every four years.

Super Tuesday is the day when major political parties within the United States choose their favorites to run in upcoming presidential elections. Each major political party chooses from a list of candidates and selects the one, from their party or another, which they want to vote for. From the list that can contain dozens of candidates who want to be president of the United States, only a handful is selected. Once those votes are decided, those candidates will begin a long and arduous campaign to convince the American people that they will best fit the job as President of America.

The phrase was first coined in 1984. Certain largely populated states within the country serve as strategically important states in any political campaign, because of the number of residents, delegates and representatives available. Those states can change from year to year as populations and demographics shift, but for the most part, these important states consist of California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. In the United States, the primaries held in New Hampshire also create vast attention from American voters, and in many cases, the voting in these states often serves as a precursor to how the rest of the country is going to vote as well.

Winning state elections held on Super Tuesday are a feather in any presidential candidates hat. Super Tuesday voting events are held in vastly different states in regard to population and socioeconomic levels, which serve to represent all cultures and income levels within the country. Such elections also serve to indicate a particularly favored or disfavored candidate. Certain demographic areas of the country tend to vote Republican, while others are primarily Democratic. Such is the glory and frustration of the American voting system, which allows each individual the right to vote. In every election, majority rules and while many people are left disappointed when their preferred candidate doesn’t win, it’s a testament to the American way of life that each citizen has a right to vote for whomever they choose to be their leader.

A presidential candidate’s win in particular states on Super Tuesday will often serve as a driving force for the remainder of their campaign, and the lessons learned of what works and what doesn’t are carefully observed by campaign managers from all political parties. The American voting system allows candidates to campaign in person, and over radio and television waves to reach every American in even the remotest corners of the country and around the world. World leaders keep their attention on the campaigns of various American presidential candidates as the process begins in an effort to get to know whom they may be dealing with in a short period of time. Presidential terms last four years, and a president may be re-elected once, to serve a total of eight years in office. Other world leaders are often forced to switch gears when new presidents are elected, and while this process may be frustrating to many other countries, the American system has been celebrated, observed and respected since our country’s beginnings. America’s Founding Fathers wanted to insure that democracy ruled and set limits to the powers of government that guarantees every American’s right to vote a candidate into or out of office; a right that is enjoyed by few other countries around the world.

Super Tuesday serves to offer every American the right to cast their vote on who they feel will best represent the United States of America, not only to fellow Americans, but to the world.

When Is Election Day

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Celebrating the Vote on Election Day!

The right to vote is an American foundation that has been observed and honored since the beginning of the United States of America is 1776. Election Day is traditionally observed on the first Tuesday of every November, between November 2nd and November 8th.

The United States Congress initiated the law in 1885 and designated that Election Day was to fall on a Tuesday, which would allow people from outlying communities time to travel to their designated voting, or polling places in order to vote. Monday was not chosen as a national voting day because of the lack of time for such travel and the fact that most people spent their Sunday’s in church worship. November was chosen as a likely month for elections to occur because it fell after crops were gathered, which also allowed for people to be more apt to travel from their homes and farms to vote.

The Second Article of the United States Constitution specifies that everyone vote for the president of the United States on a single day, though these days, early voting privileges are enjoyed by millions of Americans who fill out mail-in ballots earlier than the actual voting day. The same goes for absentee voting completed by Americans living or traveling out of the United States on Election Day, as well as military service members and personnel throughout the world. Timing is essential, and such voters must have their ballots postmarked by a certain date in order for them to be counted.

Within the United States, Election Day is a legal holiday, and many places of business are closed for the day, though many locations remain open. It’s a day when employees across the nation are allowed to come in to work late or leave early so that they may have time to get to their polling places and vote before voting booths are closed. In schools across the country, children practice voting and learning about the voting process by holding mock elections in classrooms and sometimes, entire schools are involved in such mock elections.

Within the United States, hundreds of thousands of polling places allow residents to vote, and volunteers staff most of these places. Polling places are determined by address, and prevent residents from having to travel long distances to vote. States also hold elections on Election Day, for state legislature members, governors and congressmen, while the date of local elections are determined by each state. Federal elections are held on even numbered years for all seats of the United States House of Representatives and roughly one-third of the Senate seats, while the President and Vice-Presidential seats are held every four years. At local levels, many city, county and state governments choose the odd numbered years for their elections, though that is not a hard and fast rule.

Election Day is celebrated in the United States as an opportunity to speak and let your vote be counted among the millions of other Americans voting for various political positions within local, county, state and federal government entities and is a guaranteed right for all American citizens. Many people today take such a right for granted, and choose not to participate in elections. However, many countries around the world do not allow their citizens to have a say in how local and state governments are run. Millions of immigrants come to the United States every year to enjoy such freedom of choice. Deciding to vote, or not, is an American freedom, one which has withstood the test of time since the early beginnings of our country. Election Day is and will always be a day to honor, observe and recognize the forethought of our Founding Fathers in guaranteeing such rights, and as such, they should never be taken for granted.