ABSTRACT
No nation in the world has as many elections as the United States. In a presidential election year, American voters across the country select a total of over half a million officials in addition to the President, the members of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate. Altogether there are over a million elected positions, the vast majority of which are at the local level for school boards, county boards of supervisors, sheriffs, and so on. As well as electing politicians to national, state and local offices Americans in many states are asked to vote on a wide range of issues in state and local referenda when propositions are submitted to the electorate for approval in accord with state constitutions. Before these general elections there are also primary elections which in most states determine who will represent the parties in the November contests.
