After the nominee for each political party have been chosen, the presidential candidates go head-to-head campaigning throughout the country. They go on rallies and take part in debates to win the support of voters across the nation.
Moreover, they explain their plans and views to society. On Election Day, voters go to the polling place and cast their vote for their prefered candidate. The voters elect their President and Vice President indirectly. Both are chosen by electors through the Electoral College process. States are allocated electors based on the number of seats they have in the House of Representatives and Senate.
Washington D. After ballots have been cast, all votes go to a statewide tally. Maine and Nebraska are the exceptions because they have a proportional system. A candidate has to "win" at least electors in order to become President. Voting at the Electoral College takes place in the weeks after Election Day the winner is usually always announced on the night of the election.
Inauguration Day takes place on January 20 at the U. In , George W Bush won with electoral votes, although Democrat candidate Al Gore won the popular vote by more than half a million. Only three other presidents have been elected without winning the popular vote, all of them in the 19th Century: John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B Hayes and Benjamin Harrison.
When the US constitution was being drawn up in , a national popular vote to elect a president was practically impossible. This was because of the size of the country and the difficulty of communication. At the same time, there was little enthusiasm for allowing the president to be chosen by lawmakers in the capital, Washington DC.
So, the framers of the constitution created the electoral college, with each state choosing electors. Smaller states favoured the system as it gave them more of a voice than a nationwide popular vote to decide the president. The electoral college was also favoured by southern states, where slaves made up a large portion of the population. Even though slaves didn't vote, they were counted in the US census as three-fifths of a person.
Since the number of electoral votes was determined by the size of a state's population, southern states had more influence in electing a president than a direct public vote would have given them. In some states, electors could vote for whichever candidate they prefer, regardless of who voters backed.
But in practice, electors almost always vote for the candidate who wins the most votes in their state. If an elector votes against their state's presidential pick, they are termed "faithless". In , seven electoral college votes were cast this way, but no result has been changed by faithless electors. The House of Representatives, the lower house of US lawmakers, will then vote to elect the president. This has happened only once, when in four candidates split the electoral vote, denying any one of them a majority.
With two parties dominating the US system, this is unlikely to happen today. But the tally of those votes—the popular vote—does not determine the winner. Instead, presidential elections use the Electoral College. To win the election, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes. In the event no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the president and the Senate chooses the vice president.
Summer of the year before an election through spring of the election year — Primary and caucus Caucus: a statewide meeting held by members of a political party to choose a presidential candidate to support.
January to June of election year — States and parties hold primaries Primary: an election held to determine which of a party's candidates will receive that party's nomination and be their sole candidate later in the general election. December — Electors Elector: a person who is certified to represent their state's vote in the Electoral College.
For an in-depth look at the federal election process in the U. Before the general election, most candidates for president go through a series of state primaries and caucuses. Though primaries and caucuses are run differently, they both serve the same purpose. Caucuses are private meetings run by political parties.
In most, participants divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. Undecided voters form their own group. Each group gives speeches supporting its candidate and tries to get others to join its group.
At the end, the number of voters in each group determines how many delegates each candidate has won. During a closed primary or caucus, only voters registered with that party can take part and vote. Learn which states have which types of primaries.
At stake in each primary or caucus is a certain number of delegates. These are individuals who represent their state at national party conventions. The parties have different numbers of delegates due to the rules involved in awarding them. Each party also has some unpledged delegates or superdelegates. These delegates are not bound to a specific candidate heading into the national convention. When the primaries and caucuses are over, most political parties hold a national convention.
This is when the winning candidates receive their nomination. For information about your state's presidential primaries or caucuses, contact your state election office or the political party of your choice. Anyone who meets these requirements can declare their candidacy for president. That includes naming a principal campaign committee to raise and spend campaign funds. To become the presidential nominee, a candidate typically has to win a majority of delegates.
This happens through additional rounds of voting. Pledged, or bound delegates must support the candidate they were awarded to through the primary or caucus process. In the first round of voting, pledged delegates usually have to vote for the candidate they were awarded to at the start of the convention. Unpledged delegates don't.
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