2. Find the verb in the text which means the same:

to forbid –

to hinder –

to present oneself at –

to become a member of –

to organize –

Text 2.

Electing the President

Republican National Convention, 2004 Democratic National Convention, 2004

The process of electing a President is complex. Even many Americans find it confusing. Only a small part of the process is described in the U.S. Constitution; other details of the process have developed over the past 200 years.

The Constitution specifies that the President must be at least 35 years old and must be born in the United States. It also states that the President serves a four-year term and then can run for reelection. At the time the Constitution was written, there was no limit on the num­ber of terms that a President could serve. In 1951, the Twenty-Second Amendment was passed. It limited a President to two terms.

The primary election

There are two major political parties in the United States: the Repub­licans and the Democrats. Each party has a primary election, that is, an election in which citizens choose their party's nominee, or candidate, for President. Then the Republicans and the Democrats each hold a convention and officially announce their candidates for President and Vice President.

The presidential campaign

During the campaign, the presidential candidates from each party compete against each other by advertising on television and talking to people about their plans for the country's future. They also partici­pate in televised debates. In these debates, the candidates explain their points of view and argue about the best way to solve the country's problems. Each candidate tries to convince viewers that he or she has the best ideas and is the best choice for President.

The popular vote and the electoral vote

On Election Day, citizens vote for the candidate of their choice. This is called the popular vote, or people s vote. Many Americans think that when they vote, they are voting directly for their candidate. This is not the case; instead, they are voting for electors who then vote for one of the candidates. This second vote is called the electoral vote.

The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of its legislators (senators + representatives). Since states with larger popula­tions have more representatives, these states have more electoral votes than smaller states. (See Figure)

In most states, all of the electoral votes for a state go to the can­didate who wins the most votes in that state. This "winner takes all" system can produce strange results. It is possible for one candidate to get the largest number of popular votes and the other candidate to get the largest number of electoral votes. This is exactly what hap­pened in the presidential election of 2000. The vote was very close. Although Al Gore won a half million more popular votes than George W. Bush, Bush won 10 more electoral votes than Gore. Therefore, Bush became President.

Why don’t citizens vote directly for the President? Some of the writers of the Constitution wanted Congress to elect the President; others wanted Citizens to elect the President directly. The system of electoral votes was a compromise between these ideas.