Presidential election explained

A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.

Elections by country

Albania

The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.

Chile

See main article: Elections in Chile. The president of Chile is elected by the Chilean people for a four-year term. Sitting presidents are not allowed to run for reelection, but former presidents may do so.

China

See main article: Elections in China. The president and vice president of China, are elected by the National People's Congress (NPC) on the nomination of the NPC Presidium. In practice, the presidential candidate is chosen through an informal process within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is headed by the CCP general secretary.

Czech Republic

See main article: Elections in the Czech Republic. The president of the Czech Republic is elected for a five-year term. Prior 2013, the election was indirect by the Parliament. The first direct election was held in 2013.

El Salvador

See main article: Elections in El Salvador. El Salvador elects its head of state – the president of El Salvador – directly through a fixed-date general election whose winner is decided by absolute majority. A presidential term in of 5 years and can't be re-election immediately, to become president again they have to wait one electoral period to run again. Current president of El Salvador is Nayib Bukele

France

See main article: Presidential elections in France. The president of France is elected for a five-year (since 2002) term by popular vote.

Indonesia

See main article: Elections in Indonesia. The president and vice president of Indonesia are elected for a maximum of two five-year terms. Since 2004, presidential elections in Indonesia have been determined by popular vote.

Iran

The president of Iran is elected to a four-year term by the public. The first presidential election in Iran was held in 1980, following the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy, although the president's power is second to the Supreme Leader.

Ireland

See main article: Irish presidential election. The president of Ireland is elected by the Irish people for a seven-year term.

Israel

The president of Israel is elected by the Knesset to a single seven-year term, though the role of the president is largely ceremonial as the real power of the country is in the hands of the prime minister.

Kazakhstan

The president of Kazakhstan is directly elected by popular vote for a single seven-year term.[1] The first de-facto presidential election in Kazakhstan was held in 1991, during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, excluding the 1990 Kazakh presidential election where the president was indirectly elected by the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR.[2]

Kyrgyzstan

The president of Kyrgyzstan undergoes a single term of six years.[3]

Lithuania

The president of Lithuania is elected for a five-year term by the citizens of Lithuania.

Mexico

The president of Mexico is elected for a six-year term by the public. The first presidential election in Mexico was in 1934, although these weren't considered to have met international standards until 1994.

Palestine

The president of the Palestinian National Authority is the highest-ranking political position in the State of Palestine and is elected to a four-year term by the public.

Philippines

The president of the Philippines is the highest-ranking political position in the Philippines and is elected to a six-year term by the general populace. The most recent presidential election was held in 2022 which resulted in Bongbong Marcos being elected as the 17th president of the Philippines.

Poland

The first president of Second Polish Republic was Gabriel Narutowicz. In the Second Polish Republic, the president was elected by the Parliament, while in the Third Polish Republic the president is elected for a five-year term by the public. The most recent presidential election was the 2020 Polish presidential election. The next election will take place in 2025.

Russia

See main article: Russian presidential elections. The president of Russia is elected for a six-year term by the public. The first presidential election in Russia was held in 1991.

Singapore

See main article: Presidential elections in Singapore.

The president of Singapore is directly elected by popular vote, subject to potential candidates meeting stringent qualifications set out in the Constitution, in order to run for office.

South Africa

The president of South Africa is elected by the National Assembly who are elected by the South African public. The leader of the largest elected party in the National Assembly becomes president for a five-year term. The first non-racial elections were held in 1994 to mark the end of apartheid.

South Korea

See main article: South Korean presidential election. South Korea has adopted a single, five-year presidential system. People over the age of 19 elect the president by direct voting. Voting for overseas Korean was first conducted during the 20th presidential election in 2017, and about 220,000 overseas Korean participated in the presidential election.[4]

Switzerland

The president of the Swiss Confederation is elected every year for a one-year term by the Federal Assembly among the seven Federal Councillors who collectively form together the Head of State. Primus inter pares, the president has no powers over and above the other six Councillors and continues to head his or her department. Traditionally the duty rotates among the members in order of seniority and the previous year's vice president becomes president.

Republic of China

See main article: Presidential elections in Taiwan.

Tanzania

The president of Tanzania is elected by general vote every five years. As of 2015, 24,001,134 people in Tanzania were registered to vote. Voters are registered upon completion of a Biometric Voters Register kit. The current president is John Magufuli.

Turkey

See main article: Turkish presidential elections. The president of Turkey is elected for a maximum of two five-year terms. Prior to 2014, the election was indirect by the Parliament. Since 2014, presidential elections in Turkey have been determined by popular vote.

Ukraine

The president of Ukraine is elected for a five-year term by the public. The first presidential election in Ukraine was held in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

United States

See main article: United States presidential election. The United States has elections on the state and local levels. The Electoral College is the constitutional body that elects the president, and voters actually vote for the members of the Electoral College at the state level. In the U.S., the presidential elections at the state-level decide which people shall become members of the Electoral College for each state, and those members of the Electoral College in turn cast their votes for the presidential candidates. The first recorded Electoral College presidential election in the United States was in 1788−1789, in which George Washington won.[6]

Venezuela

The president of Venezuela is elected by the public to a six-year term.

List of presidential elections

See also

Related articles

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mamyshev . Zhanbolat . 2022-09-16 . One term for seven years: Kazakhstan changes terms of a presidential mandate . 2023-10-07 . Kursiv Media Kazakhstan . en.
  2. Web site: 2012-03-26 . Background on Nursultan Nazarbayev . Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
  3. News: Factbox: Key political risks to watch in Kyrgyzstan. Factbox. 4 January 2011. October 16, 2017. Solovyov. Dmitry.
  4. Web site: Presidential Election . The National Atals of Korea.
  5. Web site: Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act .
  6. Web site: When Was the First Presidential Election? . Your Dictionary . 17 September 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120608110527/http://answers.yourdictionary.com/history/government/when-was-the-first-presidential-election.html . 8 June 2012 .