Election of the President

Electing the President of the United States The election of the president is an intricate process, but one that most Americans should understand. It has several steps to it, but it is an orderly process, governed by the laws that existed when the nation was founded.

First, each party must choose a nominees. Right now, there are two dominant parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Any other party can have a nominee, but they need to collect enough signatures in each state in order to get on the ballot. If a third party candidate cannot get enough signatures, they can be listed on the ballot as an independent but run their campaign as part of a party.

When the parties choose their nominees, it is called the primary election. Iowa is always the first caucus and New Hampshire is always the first primary. A primary is where you go into a voting booth just like a general election. A caucus is more like a prep rally or town meeting where they decide on a candidate. The candidates that do not get enough support in a caucus are eliminated and their supporters must choose another candidate until there is a clear winner. Each state has a set number of delegates to devote to a candidate. Some states award all of their delegates to one candidate where others split them up. Each party has a set number of delegates that a candidate must receive before getting the nomination. Once a candidate has enough delegates, most other candidates will drop out.

Now there are two candidates, one from each party, and possibly a few from the third parties. There are usually three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. The format of the debates are determined by the candidates and the debate commission. The first live televised debate was in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Before that, debates were over the radio.
Election day is always the first Tuesday of the month of November. The candidate with the most electoral college votes becomes president. Each states has a certain number of electoral college votes. It is possible for a candidate to win the majority of the popular votes, but not win the electoral college votes, and thus not become president. If neither candidate gets the majority of the electoral vote, the president will be chosen by the House of Representatives and the Vice President will be chosen by the Senate. Theoretically, if the congress is divided, with one party controlling the House and the other party controlling the Senate, you could have a President from one party and a Vice President from another. Every four years, this exciting process is repeated.