How the President is

Elected

Step 1: Declaring Your Candidacy

O A presidential candidate first makes an official announcement that he or she is running for president.

O Then, he or she must file papers with the federal elections commission, which regulates the election process.

O Candidates usually make these announcements at least a year before the presidential election.

O Must be 35-years old, a U.S. citizen, and must have lived in the U.S. for 14 years.

Step 2: Primaries & Caucuses

O To win his/her party’s nomination, candidates must compete to win the most delegates in state elections called primaries & caucuses

O Candidates are running against people in their own party

O Starts in Feb. of the election year and runs through June

O This year, the Republican candidate needed 1,144 delegates to win the nomination

PrimariesO A primary election looks very much

like a general election: Voters get ballots that list the names of the people running for president and then go to a polling place and vote for one of those people.

O 1st Primary: New HampshireO Most primaries are closed and

winner-take-all

CaucusesO A caucus is a gathering of people

who discuss the issues and the candidates at a central location and then cast their votes for candidates.

O Usually in states with smaller populations

O 1st Caucus: Iowa

Step 3: The ConventionO Each party holds a national convention in

late summerO The purpose of the convention:

1. finalize the party’s nomination2. finalize the party’s platform

O Republican Convention: week of Aug. 27th,

Tampa, FLO Democratic Convention: week of Sept. 3rd

Charlotte, NC

Step 4: The CampaignO The official campaign begins after both parties

have held their conventions – usually after Labor Day Weekend

O Five main way candidates campaign:1. rallies/whistle stops2. debates3. media – ads, news coverage, press releases4. Internet – websites, fundraising tool5. grassroots organization - volunteers go

door- to-door and make phone calls in their local community

Step 5: The General Election

O Election Day is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every 4 years (Nov. 6, 2012)

O However, the president is not elected by the people on Election Day

O The president is officially elected by the electors of the Electoral College

O When we vote for a candidate, we are actually voting for electors who are committed to that candidate

O Winner-take-all systemO Is it possible to win the electoral vote, but lose the

popular vote? Yes! It happened in the 2000 Election.

Step 6: The Electoral College

O The Electoral College officially elects the president on the first Monday after the second Wed. in December

O Framers did not trust the common people to elect their own president

O Each state is given a number of “electoral votes” = to the # of Senators + # of Representatives they have in Congress.

O California has 55 (2 Senators + 53 Reps.)O All states have at least 3 electoral votesO Washington D.C. also has 3 electoral votesO Candidate needs 270 out of 538 to winO Results are read before a joint session of Congress in

January – this makes it official!

Step 7: Inauguration Day

O The new president elect does not officially take office until he/she is inaugurated

O Inauguration Day is January 20th

O On Inauguration Day the new president is sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and takes the oath of office