How The Election Works:
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on a question to find the answer!
• Who
made up the election rules?
• Can
anyone be U.S. President?
• How
do we decide who gets to be President?
• What
are candidates, and what do they do?
• What
is a political party?
• How
do the parties choose candidates?
• How
are the Pres. and Vice-Pres. elected?
• Does
the person with the most votes win?
LOOKING BACK ON ELECTION 2000:
Check
out the articles covering major election events:
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The voters in each party have to decide among the candidates in a series of preliminary elections called caucuses or primaries. Each state holds its own caucus or primary. Iowa usually has the first caucus, and New Hampshire has the first primary. Candidates traditionally spend a lot of time in those two states because they want to have a good start to their campaign. At caucuses and primaries, voters decide which candidate in their party they will support.
Only Democrats can vote in the Democratic caucuses and primaries, and only Republicans can vote in the Republican caucuses and primaries.
Each state then holds a big meeting called a convention, where they elect people called delegates who support their favorite candidates. Then in July or August, each party holds its national convention, where the delegates get together and select one candidate to nominate for president and one to nominate for vice president. These two nominees are called a ticket. For example, President Clinton and Vice President Gore were nominees for President and Vice President and made up the Democratic ticket in 1996.
