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Elections Process
The United States Constitution mandates that a presidential election be held once every four years. The process of electing the president is multi-step and involves candidates from major and minor political parties and independent candidates.
Candidate for U.S. President must satisfy the following criteria:
Natural born citizen
At least 35 years old
Resident of U.S. for at least 14 years
Each party chooses one candidate to represent the party at the national Presidential elections. The chosen candidate selects a Vice-President candidate. These candidates are chosen at the national party convention through a simple majority of the delegates. The votes casted by the delegates at the convention are determined through primaries and caucuses held at the state level.
Primaries are simply an election that allows voters to vote for a particular candidate, thus determining what proportion of the state delegates will vote for that candidate at the national convention. Caucuses are more like town hall meetings with speeches and discussions. Party members cast votes to determine their choice of candidate for the presidential nomination.
Independent candidates do not need to receive a nomination from a party but must satisfy other requirements.
In the national presidential election, every U.S. citizen at least 18 years of age can cast a vote. Citizens don't directly vote for a President, but instead vote for an Electoral College that determines who wins the general election.
Each state gets a certain number of electors (members of the Electoral College) based on the state's representation in Congress. Following the national elections, electors cast their vote and candidate receiving more than half of the votes is elected as the U.S. President. Electors are supposed to vote for their state's preferred candidate.
2008 Timeline
Jan. - Jun., 2008: Democratic and Republican Primaries and Caucuses. Please click here for exact dates in your area
Aug. 25-28, 2008: Democratic National Convention at Denver, Colorado
Sep. 1-4, 2008: Republican National Convention at Saint Paul, Minnesota
Nov. 4, 2008: Elections to select members of the Electoral College
Dec. 15, 2008: Members of the Electoral College cast their votes
Jan. 6, 2009: Electoral votes tallied
Jan. 20, 2009: Inauguration Day
Candidates
Ever since the Civil War, American politics has been dominated by two major parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party
Currently, there are 8 candidates each running to get their party nomination for the national Presidential Elections. See for biography, stance on various issues, voting record and relevant YouTube videos of these candidates. Share your thoughts on the candidate using the comments feature.
