At stake in this election:

• 435 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President George W. BUSH *
• Head of Government: President George W. BUSH
• Assembly: United States has a bicameral Congress consisting of the Senate with 100 seats and the House of Representatives with 435 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government. The president is popularly elected through a system involving the electoral college. Each state receives a number of Electoral College votes based on its two Senators plus the number of seats it has in the House. A candidate who received the most votes in a state captures all the electoral votes. A candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes (270) to be elected president. The president serves a four-year term, with a maximum of two consecutive terms.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by an electoral college to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Senate 100 members are elected by simple majority vote to serve 6-year terms*. In the House of Representatives 435 members are elected in single-member constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 2-year terms.

* One-third of the members are renewed every two years, and each state elects two senators.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Republican Party
  • Leader: Dennis HASTERT
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 221
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 229
• Party: Democratic Party
  • Leader: Richard GEPHARDT
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 212
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 204
• Independents
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 1
  • Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 1

Last Legislative election:

• Legislative elections last held: November 7, 2000
  Seats decided in the last election to the Senate: 33
  Seats decided in the last election House of Representatives: 435

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 278,058,881 (July 2001 est. )
• Registered Voters: 205,800,000 ( 2000 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 145,599,896 (2002)

·         Is United States a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has United States ratified CEDAW: No

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 13 (Senate); 62 (House) following the 2002 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 8 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is United States a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 July 2009)

·         Has United States ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 41,708,832 (est.)