Formal arrangements

In practice, it is the government which decides when to hold an election. The law says that an election has to take place at least every five years. However, the interval between elections is usually a bit shorter than this. A party in power does not normally wait until the last possible moment.

After the date of an election has been fixed, people who want to be candidates in a constituency have to deposit £5oo with the Returning Officer (the person responsible for the conduct of the election in each constituency). They get this money back if they get 5% of the votes or more.

To be eligible to vote, a person must be at least eighteen years old and be on the electoral register. This is compiled every year for each constituency separately. People who have moved house and have not had time to get their names on the electoral register of their new constituency can arrange to vote by post. Nobody, however, is obliged to vote.

The campaign

British elections are comparatively quiet affairs. There is no tradition of large rallies or parades as there is in the USA. However, because of the intense coverage by the media, it would be very difficult to be in Britain at the time of a campaign and not realize that an election was about to take place.

Formally, a different campaign takes place in each constituency. Local newspapers give coverage to the candidates; the candidates themselves hold meetings; party supporters stick up posters in their windows; local party workers spend their time canvassing. The amount of money that candidates are allowed to spend on their campaigns is strictly limited. They have to submit detailed accounts of their expenses for inspection. Any attempt to influence voters improperly is outlawed.

It is at a national level that the real campaign takes place. The parties spend millions of pounds advertising on boardings and in news­papers. By agreement, they do not buy time on television as they do in the USA. Instead, they are each given a number of strictly timed 'party political broadcasts'. Each party also holds a daily televised news conference.

Polling day

General elections always take place on a Thursday. They are not public holidays. People have to work in the normal way, so polling stations are open from seven in the morning till ten at night to give everybody the opportunity to vote. The only people who get a holiday are schoolchildren whose schools are being used as polling stations.

Each voter has to vote at a particular polling station. After being ticked off on the electoral register, the voter is given a ballot paper. Elections on the British mainland are always very fairly conducted.

‘After the polls close, the marked ballot papers are taken to a central place in the constituency and counted. The Returning Officer then makes a public announcement of the votes cast for each candidate and declares the winner to be the MP for the constituency. This declaration is one of the few occasions during the election process when shouting and cheering may be heard.

10. Translate into Ukrainian:

1. Access to the political arena during the 18th century depended largely on membership in some aristocracy, and participation in elections was regulated mainly by local customs and arrangements. 2. With the American and French revolutions, every citizen was declared formally equal to every other citizen, but the vote remained an instrument of political power possessed by very few. 3. Systems of plural voting were maintained in some countries, giving certain social groups an electoral advantage. 4. In Great Britain, for example, university graduates and owners of businesses in constituencies other than those in which they lived continued to have an extra vote until 1948. 5. Before World War I both Austria and Prussia had three classes of weighted votes that effectively kept electoral power in the hands of the upper social strata.

11. Using English-English dictionary, explain the following words:

Referendum; plebiscite; fraud; impeachment.

12. Find the pairs of synonyms:

Applicant, enemy; fraud; opposition; information; decide on; pretender, elect; resistance; default; assistance; fail; opponent; support; propaganda; cheat.

13. Learn and explain the following:

a) A make-believe situation; a guide-post; a common-sense approach; pro and con; primary emphasis; in the belief that; in advance; to concern with.

b) Behind the scene; to be in the limelight; to give somebody the cue; a peace-maker; a brilliant speaker; self-denial; inexplicable thing; triumphant acclaim; momentous achievements.

14.Translate into English:

Так як нові інформаційні технології поступово входять в наше життя, в тому числі і політичне, все реальніше постає питання використання їх при проведені виборів (президентських, парламентських, місцевих) та референдумів. В даній концепції пропонується поетапний перехід від паперового голосування при виборах та референдумах до системи електронного голосування. Виборці б мали змогу перевіряти себе у виборчих списках, взнавати свій виборчий округ, отримувати інформацію про партії та кандидатів, отримувати інформацію про результати голосування. Працівники виборчих комісій мали б можливість отримувати інструкції щодо проведення виборів, заповнювати інформацію про результати виборів на своїй дільниці. При прямому електронному голосуванні громадянин матиме можливість скористатися або сенсорним екраном, електронним пристроєм для голосування або карткою ж яка може бути відсканована. При голосуванні на віддалі громадянин може використовувати або власний комп’ютер чи комп’ютер що знаходиться в публічному місці, свій мобільний телефон чи мережу кабельного телебачення. Звичайно всі ці технічні нововведення мають відповідати Конституції та виборчому законодавству, що передбачає проведення загальних, рівних, вільних та прямих виборів при збережені таємниці голосування.

III

Elections in the USA

Topical words:

To nominate for president;

mid-term elections; primary elections; congressional elections;

college

property qualification; educational qualification;

residence qualification;

voting age;

to register;

to enrol;

straight- ticket voting;

Anyone who is an American citizen, at least 18 years of age, and registered to vote may vote. Americans who want to vote must register, that is to put down their names before the actual elections take place.

A general election is a state-wide election, usually held shortly after primary elections, to fill state and national offices. States hold national presidential elections every four years, in November, and national congressional elections in the even-numbered years (mid-term elections).

The date of the American presidential election is fixed by law – every four years (years divisible by four, e.g. 1992, 1996, 2000, etc.) on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

American Presidents and Vice-Presidents are elected by an electoral college which convenes for the balloting on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.

Each State is allotted the same number of electors in the college as it has in the Senate and House of Representatives, or roughly in proportion to its populations. In each State these electors are nominated and voted for by the respective parties. If a candidate wins a State, no matter by how small a margin, he picks up all its electoral votes.

The electors whose party wins in a State’s balloting for President meet to cast their votes at a place designated by the State legislature. The votes are sent to Congress where they are counted in the presence of both Houses on January 6. The president-elect is inaugurated on January 20. The Twentieth Amendment makes noon on January 20, every four years, the time for the beginning of presidential terms.

The President and Vice President must be voted for as a team. To become a President a candidate must receive at least 270 votes, which constitutes a bare majority in the 538-member electoral college. If the House has to elect the President, each State will have a single vote, and a majority of the 50 State delegations (26 votes) would be needed to elect a President.

The election laws and their qualifications vary in each State. Residence qualifications and the voting age differ greatly in many States. The Voting Rights Act of 1970 sets 30-day residence as the only precondition to voting in federal elections and in June 1971 a constitutional amendment was ratified making 18 the voting age.

On polling day the voting is by ballot, either paper, or by machine. With so many candidates a paper ballot may be several feet long and voting by machine is preferable. It requires the marking of a single “X” or the pulling of a single lever.

Prior to their participation in elections the prospective voters must register in accordance with the law of his State. Under a system of permanent registration the voter, once qualified, remains on the eligible list until he dies, moves, or fails to vote in several consecutive elections. Periodic registration requires that he enroll at the appropriate local office annually or at fixed intervals. Upon registration every citizen is eligible to vote on polling day.

15. Answer the questions:

1. What is general election?

2. When is a general election usually held in the USA?

3. How often are presidential elections held in the United States?

4. By whom are US Presidents and Vice-Presidents finally elected?

5. How many electors is each State allotted?

6. By whom are electors nominated?

7. Where do the electors usually convene to cast their votes?

8. On what date is the President-elect inaugurated?

9. Can the President and the Vice-President be voted for as two separate candidacies?

10. How many electoral votes must a candidate receive to become President?

11. What is required of the United States citizen to be qualified as an eligible voter?

16. Translate into English:

Проводити вибори, встановлювати законом, результати виборів, висувати кандидатуру, пропорційно населенню, отримати перемогу, підтримати кандидатів своєї партії, подати голос, день виборів, реєстрація виборців, право на участь, кандидат на пост, віковий ценз, ценз осілості, голосування за списком, колегія виборців, первинні вибори.

17. Fill in the blanks:

1. The date …the American presidential election is fixed … law.

2. The electoral college convenes… the balloting… the first Monday after the second Wednesday…December.

3. Each State has the same number of electors… the college as it has… the Senate and House of Representatives.

4. The number of electors is… proportion… the population of the state.

5. In some states electors are nominated… party conventions, in most states,… primary elections.

6. The electors are listed … ballots… the general presidential election.

7. A candidate may win a state … a small margin.

8. There can be a big gap … the popular and the electoral vote.

9. Political parties choose their own candidates… office.

10. The electors’ votes are counted … the presence of both Houses.

11. The President and Vice-President must be voted … as a team.

12. The electors never meet… an interstate basis.

13. 270 votes constitute a bare majority… the 538-member electoral college.

14. 35 Senate seats are … … election at the same time.

15. The election of 26 Governors will be … the same ballot.

16. Some important state officials and judges are elected …elections held … odd-numbered years.

17. Prior … their participation… elections the voters must register… accordance… the law of his state.

18. … a system of permanent registration the voter remains … the eligible list until he dies, moves or fails to vote several consecutive elections.

19. … a system of periodic registration he must enrol… the appropriate local office annually or … fixed interval.

20. … registration every citizen is eligible to vote… polling day.

19. Translate into English:

1971 році Верховний Суд США прийняв рішення, згідно якого віковий ценз американських виборців на виборах президента та членів Конгресу був зменшений до 18 років. В більшості штатів цей ценз раніше був 21 рік. Рішенням Верховного Суду на федеральних виборах одночасно відміняється ценз грамотності і осілості, що існували в ряді штатів.

На виборах у листопаді виборці голосують за кандидатів в президенти не прямо, а через вибраних ними представників, котрі, в свою чергу, вибирають президента та віце-президента. Якщо жодному з кандидатів не вдається отримати більшість з 538 голосів, то президента згідно з конституцією вибирає Палата представників.

“Праймеріз” – первинні вибори в США – проводяться в 23 штатах (демократи голосують окремо від республіканців), для того щоб визначити популярність окремих кандидатів в президенти, а також вибрати делегатів на загальнонаціональні з’їзди партій.

Тричі в ХІХ столітті (1824, 1876, 1888) президентом ставав кандидат, який отримав меншість голосів виборців. Між 1876 та 1892 роками жоден президент не отримав 50% голосів.

20. Insert what or that

1. After all, he now had... he had been longing for, and he decided that was... counted. 2. There was no doubt as to... he meant. 3. I could realize... he was no enemy of mine. 4. That was... had happened to that wonderful mood of optimism and understanding. 5. I wanted to satisfy myself... the work I had put into this boat was sound. 6. He did not even know... had happened. 7.... he says is not... he means. 8....-he refused to help her in this critical moment was more than unkind of him.

23. Translate into English:

В практиці багатьох парламентів відомі різноманітні способи нав’язування політичному противнику своєї думки. Серед них розповсюджений метод обструкції. В історії Парламенту Великобританії та Конгресу США відомі випадки, коли депутати або сенатори для того, щоб зірвати небажаний законопроект, говорили з трибуни без перерви кілька діб підряд. В таких випадках досвідчені конгресмени приходили на засідання з подушками, розкладачками і терпляче слухали оратора або ж спали.

“Третя палата конгресу” – так називають лобістів. Їх велика кількість – на кожного вибраного члена обох палат конгресу США припадає до восьми лобістів. Їхні функції дуже прості. Лобістів купують асоціації промисловців, землевласників, торгові палати, і т.п. З якою метою? Щоб здійснювати вплив на законодавство. Іншими словами, їх справа так наглядати за законодавством, щоб в потрібний момент з’явився потрібний законопроект, а інший – провалити, відповідно до того, чого вимагають інтереси тих, хто їх наймає.

IV

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