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Civic Engagement, Elections, and Voting: Election Basics

The purpose of this LibGuide is to support civic engagement and help Houston Community College students, staff, faculty, and community members to participate in U.S. elections as engaged and informed citizens.

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What is an election?

Elections are the processes by which citizens choose a person to represent them in public office, or by which citizens accept or reject political propositions. People vote in elections to make known their collective preference for an individual, party, ideology, or specific public policy (Scott). [Source]

What is the Electoral College?

It is not a place, but a process that includes the:

  • Selection of electors every four years during the general presidential election
  • Meeting of electors (a number dependent upon the U.S. census's reported population) who cast votes for the president and vice president
  • Counting of the electors’ votes by Congress
  • In other U.S. elections, candidates are elected directly by popular vote. But the president and vice president are not elected directly by citizens. Instead, they are chosen through the Electoral College process.

The process of using electors comes from Article II of the U.S. Constitution. It was a compromise between a popular vote by citizens and a vote in Congress. [Source]

What types of elections take place in the United States?

General Elections (Presidential-Federal, Presidential-State, Presidential-Local and Municipal-Local), Primary Elections (Open, Closed, or Blanket/Non-partisan), Special Elections, and Run-off Elections (General or Primary).

Star icon General

In general presidential elections, you vote for federal, state, and local officials every four years because the U.S. President's term is four years.

  • Elected federal officials are U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives to Congress.
  • Elected state officials are Governor, Lieutenant Governor, General Assembly, Attorney General, Auditor General, and State Treasurer.
  • Elected local officials are county and city officials, judges and magisterial district judges.

In odd-numbered years, such as 2025, general elections for electing local officials are also called municipal elections because there are no federal or state officials being elected.

The General Election is held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. [Source]

Star icon Primary

In primary elections, a party selects a candidate for a General Election, and you vote for a candidate who will be nominated to be on a ballot. Article I, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution gives individual states the right to decide when and how elections are conducted. As a result, every state has different dates for their elections and follows different rules (U.S. Vote Foundation). [Source]

Star icon Special

If an elected official has resigned, died, or got removed from office, you can vote for a new official. Special elections may be held either during a general election or primary election, or on a completely different date assigned by the elections office. Everyone who lives in the district can vote in that election (U.S. Vote Foundation). [Source]

Star icon Run-off

Run-offs are second elections held to determine a winner when no candidate in the first election met the required threshold for victory for both primary elections and general elections (Ballotpedia). [Source]

References (APA)

Ballotpedia. (2024.) Runoff election. https://ballotpedia.org/Runoff_election.

Scott, J., J. (2014). Elections. In L. J. Sabato & H. R. Ernst, Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections (2nd ed.). Facts On File.

https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDg1NDc5MA==?aid=103617.

U.S. Vote Foundation. (2024.) What are the different types of elections? https://www.usvotefoundation.org/what-are-different-types-elections.

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