It's pretty self-explanatory: each candidate will need votes to win an election. Of course, it's not as easy as it seems when there are so many different types of voters making their own judgments. In many countries, party identification, along with many other factors, plays an important role in winning elections; the United States is no different from that. However, when electing candidates, some countries rely almost solely on party affiliation, while the United States allows more flexibility. In the United States, party identification does not have the greatest influence on a person's vote due to its weakness in the American electoral system and other factors that distinguish the candidate from his or her party, such as the personality of the candidate, his promises/decisions. , and their ability to handle current issues on a national scale. First, party identification should not be too strong in the United States, because the American two-party system allows for "swing voters." A swing voter is, according to TheFreeDictionary.com, "a voter who has no allegiance to any political party and whose unpredictable decisions can swing the outcome of an election one way or the other", according to TheFreeDictionary.com. in other words, voters who do not commit to voting. a specific party or candidate. Although candidates may rely on “core voters,” or engaged voters, to make their decisions, most members of the U.S. Electoral College are undecided voters. “Swing voters” infer that a majority vote can go either way, making the outcome more difficult to predict. Swing voters and base voters come from a variety of sources. Some of the main categories that pit swing voters against rank-and-file voters include income, ethnicity, ideology, geography, education, age, gender and religion. For this reason, Party I... middle of the newspaper ...... problems on a scale of the entire Union. Unlike other countries that vote based on party association, the United States allows people to vote independently; they can vote for any party or no party at all. This “independence” gives rise to a huge general “third party” that can lead to unpredictable results in an election. The free dictionary. Farlex, and Web. November 26, 2013. .Tannahill, Neal R. Think: American Government. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2012. Print. Timberg, Robert. “Punk.” www.nytimes.com. Touchstone, 1999. Web. November 25, 2013. .Zephyr, David. “Kos daily.” : John McCain: Hero? No, just an aristocratic tyrant. Np, December 2, 2010. Web. November 26. 2013. .