Photo by Josh Meek/Flickr Creative Commons.
Both of the major US political parties have officially nominated candidates for the 2016 presidential election. The candidates were announced at the parties’ national conventions, which were held in July. Donald Trump is the Republican Party’s candidate, and Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Party’s candidate. Who exactly chose these candidates? At each party’s convention, appointed delegates voted to nominate their party’s candidate.
What about the rest of the people in the United States? Of the 324 million people living in the United States, 103 million cannot vote because they are not US citizens, they are too young, or they have been convicted of a crime. Many others would be eligible to vote but chose not to. Only about 60 million people voted in the primary elections, when US citizens vote for the candidate they want their party to support. However, many voters chose candidates (such as Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz) who did not win their party’s nomination. Only 14 percent of voters chose either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. This is just 9 percent of the people living in the United States!
