Qualifications of Office
To run for the House of Representatives, you must be at least this old.
What is 25?
In this type of primary, only registered party members are allowed to vote.
What is a closed primary?
This is the total number of electors in the Electoral College.
What is 538?
These groups are formed by companies or interest groups to raise money and support specific candidates.
What are Political Action Committees (PACs)?
This 1993 law allows citizens to register to vote while applying for a driver's license.
What is the National Voter Registration Act (or Motor Voter Act)?
This is the minimum age required to run for President of the United States.
What is 35?
This is a set of ideas and plans about important issues like the economy or education that a candidate shares with voters.
What is a platform?
A candidate needs at least this many electoral votes to win the presidency.
What is 270?
This is the maximum amount an individual can donate to a candidate for a single election, such as a primary.
What is $2,800?
This term describes the percentage of eligible voters who actually show up to cast a ballot.
What is voter turnout?
This term refers to someone born in the U.S. or to at least one U.S. citizen parent; it is a requirement for the presidency.
What is a "natural born" citizen?
These meetings are used in some states instead of primaries to discuss candidates and choose delegates.
What are caucuses?
Each state’s number of electors is determined by its total number of members in these two houses of Congress.
What are the Senate and the House of Representatives?
Presidential candidates can receive "matching funds" from the government if they agree to these.
What are spending limits?
This 2002 Act provided funding for better voting technology like optical scanners after the 2000 election issues.
What is the Help America Vote Act?
To become a U.S. Senator, a person must have been a citizen for at least this many years.
What is nine years?
This major event is held by parties a few months before the general election to officially announce their nominees.
What is a national convention?
If no presidential candidate wins a majority of electoral votes, this group decides the winner.
What is the House of Representatives?
This is the estimated total cost of the 2020 presidential campaign.
What is 6.6 billion dollars?
Adopted from Australia, this type of voting system was created to protect voter privacy and prevent honesty issues.
What is the secret ballot?
Unlike federal offices, the requirements for state offices like Governor are found in these specific documents.
What are state constitutions?
Independent or third-party candidates often get on the ballot by using this method instead of a primary.
What is nomination by petition (collecting signatures)?
These two states are the only ones that do not use a "winner-take-all" system, instead dividing votes by district.
What are Nebraska and Maine?
These are states where the vote is expected to be very close, causing candidates to spend most of their money and time there.
What are battleground states?
This specific amendment was passed in 1804 to require electors to vote separately for president and vice president.
What is the Twelfth Amendment?