U.S presidential elections occur periodically after every four years on the first Tuesday of November. This means the next election will occur on the 3rd of November 2020. Any candidate with the ambition to vie for the presidency must meet the following requirements as per the constitution. He or she must be a minimum of 35 years of age, a United States natural-born citizen, and must be a resident of the country for more than14 years. A candidate should take ample time to meditate on the decision to run, form a political committee, to broaden candidate potentiality by creating awareness, seeking endorsement, preparing for the campaigns, and investigating run and win possibilities
The journey to the presidency begins by declaring one candidacy at any time springtime a year before the elections. The person registers with the Federal Election Commission. the person ought to have formed a campaign committee and raise or spend 5000 dollars threshold 15 days prior to filing the statement of candidacy. Your principal campaign committee should then submit the statement of organization on regular bases thereafter.
Fundraising and campaign kick-off where the candidate moves on from State to State making speeches, shaking hands, kissing babies, posing for photos, and all sought of things to popularize oneself and connect with the ‘average’ American. Candidates must raise millions from supporters to support the expensive campaigns.
Party nomination and primaries happen between the months of January and June. Primaries determine the nominee who will take the party’s presidential candidacy. They are either in a closed type where only affiliated members of the political party vote or in the open type where a voter can vote in any party in the primaries. The voter can vote for the specific candidate of choice(primary system) or vote for delegates names who support a particular candidate.(caucus system)
The party conventions for the major political parties then happen between July to the beginning of September. different political parties have different political have varying numbers of delegates. Pledged delegates support the candidate they who was chosen in the primary and clauses process whereas else unpledged delegate supports the candidate of their choice. The convection affirms the win of the candidate who acquired the minimum number of delegates in the primaries and if not they choices one who will carry the party’s presidential flag
General elections campaign of the final candidates from each party now happens. Having successfully passed over the primaries and conventions, the big task awaits to convince as many voters as possible by explaining their visions. This requires making a strategic decision, campaign organization, and refining speeches to lure and resonate with as many eligible voters as possible. Campaigns are carried out both at the grassroots level and ground levels
On the presidential election day; The candidate aims at winning the popular and electoral votes.
The citizens choose the president in an indirect election by choosing electors on the Tuesday following the first Monday of November. The electors then meet on the second Wednesday of December where they cast their vote and chose the president by a popular voting system. The electoral college is the group of electors from the 50 States and the District of Columbia. There are 538 electors and a candidate needs to gain more than half (270) of the elector’s votes to win the presidency. If the electoral college fails to produce an eligible winner, the House of Representatives selects the president. On 20th January the Congress certifies the candidates who get the winning votes on as the president in the inauguration ceremony
Reference
Semetko, H. A., Blumler, J. G., Gurevitch, M., Weaver, D. H., & Barkin, S. (2013). The formation of campaign agendas: A comparative analysis of party and media roles in recent American and British elections. Routledge.
Flanigan, W. H., Zingale, N. H., Theiss-Morse, E. A., & Wagner, M. W. (2014). The political behavior of the American electorate. Cq Press.
Colomer, J. (Ed.). (2016). The handbook of electoral system choice. Springer.
McGhee, E., Masket, S., Shor, B., Rogers, S., & McCarty, N. (2014). A primary cause of partisanship? Nomination systems and legislator ideology. American Journal of Political Science, 58(2), 337-351.
