Editing Electoral threshold (section)

===United States===
{{see also|Ballot access}}

In the United States, as the majority of elections are conducted under the [[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post system]], legal electoral thresholds do not apply. It is possible to be elected with less than half the votes in a district. 

However, several states have threshold requirements for parties to obtain automatic [[Ballot access#State ballot access laws|ballot access]] to the next general election without having to submit voter-signed petitions. The threshold requirements have no practical bearing on the two main political parties (the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] parties) as they easily meet the requirements, but have come into play for the [[Green Party of the United States|Green]], [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]] and other minor parties. The threshold rules also restrict independent candidates' access to the ballot.