Presidential elections

Who can vote?

United States citizens who are at least 18 years old can vote in elections. In most states, you also have to register, or sign up, to vote. Some states make you register as early as 30 days before an election.

In the United States, people use elections to choose many of the country's most important leaders. For example, Americans vote to choose the president of the United States every four years.

Why is it important to help choose the country's leader?

As the country's leader, the president has many important responsibilities. Here are some of the most important ones:

• • The president signs off on all new laws.

  • The president works with other countries to solve problems.

  • The president is in charge of the military, which includes the army, the navy, and other groups.

  • The president chooses other important people to serve in the government.

These responsibilities give the president a lot of power over our country's future and its place in the world. So, American citizens have an important responsibility to vote for someone who will be a trustworthy leader!

A person who runs for a position in government, such as president, is called a candidate.

These are three rules for who can be a candidate for president.

1. The person must have been born as a United States citizen.

2. The person must be at least 35 years old.

3. The person must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.

What does a person do after deciding to run for president?

When a candidate decides to run, he or she launches a campaign. In a campaign, many people work together to help a candidate try to win an election.

How much do presidential campaigns cost?

In presidential elections today, candidates' campaigns can cost billions of dollars. The money usually goes towards things such as these:

• • Buying campaign materials such as buttons, t-shirts, and stickers

  • Paying for advertisements

  • Paying to travel around the country

  • Paying staff members, or workers who help with the campaign

Where does the money come from?

Candidates can spend their own money on their campaigns. But most of the money comes from other people or groups.

The government has laws about how much money people, companies, and groups can give to candidates' campaigns. But special types of groups can spend lots of money on their own campaigns to support the candidate.

Paying attention to each candidate's political beliefs is part of being an informed voter.

Informed voters work to know the candidates' beliefs about important issues.

What do you believe?

Below are some issues that come up often in elections today. What do you believe about each issue?

Pollution

When businesses make energy or goods, they often release chemicals called pollution into the environment. These chemicals can hurt people and animals.

Some people think we should pass more laws to stop pollution. Other people disagree. They worry that new laws would hurt businesses and make it harder for people to find jobs.

Minimum wage

Many workers have trouble making enough money to pay for the things they need.

Some people think that we should pass laws to make companies pay their workers more. Other people think this will just force companies to hire fewer workers.

Military spending

The United States has the biggest military in the world. Some people think we should spend less on our military and focus on other government services, such as schools. Other people think that we should focus on building a strong military to protect Americans and other people from attacks.

Once a candidate has been nominated by a party, he or she becomes the party's nominee.

Why is getting nominated important?

Getting nominated is an important step to getting your name listed on ballots. A ballot is something that voters use to mark their vote in an election.

If you are nominated by a party, your name will appear on the ballot as that party's candidate. Most members of the party will vote for you in the election!

Can people vote for candidates who didn't get nominated?

People can also vote for these other types of candidates:

• Independent candidates, or candidates who run without a party's support

• Write-in candidates, or candidates whose names voters have to write on the ballot

These types of candidates have never won a presidential election.

How do primaries and caucuses work?

In some states, voters choose delegates through primaries. In others, voters choose delegates through caucuses.

In a primary, voters choose delegates by casting votes. Primaries are similar to normal elections.

Caucuses are meetings that voters go to in their local area. At these meetings, people give speeches to try to get other people to support different candidates. At the end, the people who support each candidate are counted up.

Does Iowa always go first?

Yes. In fact, Iowa has a state law saying that it must have the first caucuses! New Hampshire has a similar law saying that it must have the first primary.

The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary are important. Candidates who do well often get the most attention in the news and do well in later primaries and caucuses.

Super Tuesday

Many states have their nominating contests on a day called Super Tuesday. More delegates are chosen on this day than on any other day.

Both major parties hold their nominating conventions in the summer before a general election:

• • The Democrats hold the Democratic National Convention, or DNC.

  • The Republicans hold the Republican National Convention, or RNC.

How do delegates agree on a nominee?

To win the nomination at the DNC or RNC, a candidate has to get a majority of the delegates' votes, or more than half. Usually, one of the candidates wins a majority of the delegates in the primaries and caucuses. So, people usually know who the nominee will be before the delegates actually vote at the nominating convention.

The party's presidential candidate usually has the biggest say in nominating his or her running mate.

What goes into choosing a running mate?

Choosing a running mate is an important decision. Often, running mates are chosen to win over more voters and balance the party's ticket, or list of candidates on the ballot. For example, the running mate often comes from a different part of the country than the party's candidate for president.

Election Day

The day of the general election is often called "Election Day." Most states have laws that say that people are allowed to take time off of work to vote on Election Day. But all states have different rules for elections. Voters have to make sure they know the local rules!

How does the Electoral College choose the president and vice president?

The groups of electors each meet separately in their own states to vote. They cast votes for president and then for vice president. But people usually know who won an election before the electors cast their votes. How? Electors pledge, or promise, to vote for certain candidates.

Do electors have to vote for who they pledge to vote for?

No! But they usually do. Since the beginning of the Electoral College, only 157 electors have not voted for the candidate they pledged to vote for. These electors are called faithless electors.

Does Washington, D.C., get any electors?

Washington, D.C., is not part of any state. But it still gets electors in the Electoral College! It can never get more electors than the least populous state, or the state with the fewest people. In the last election, Washington, D.C., got three electors.

Almost all states choose electors using the winner-take-all method. In these states, the candidates with the most popular votes get all of the state's electors.

Do all states use the winner-take all method to choose electors?

No. In Maine and Nebraska, voters in different parts of the states get to choose their own electors. Then, the states choose two more electors using the winner-take-all method.

Can one vote make a difference?

Imagine 4,000,001 people in Florida vote for the Republican candidate and 4,000,000 vote for the Democratic candidate. The Republican still wins all of Florida's electoral votes! How would you feel if you forgot about Election Day and your favorite candidate lost by one vote?

How many times has the winner of the popular vote lost the election?

In United States history, the winner of the popular vote has lost the presidential election five times.

• In 1824, Andrew Jackson lost the election to John Quincy Adams.

• In 1876, Samuel Tilden lost the election to Rutherford B. Hayes.

• In 1888, Grover Cleveland lost the election to Benjamin Harrison.

• In 2000, Al Gore lost the election to George W. Bush.

• In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost the election to Donald Trump.

The oath of office

The words that the president-elect must say before becoming president are called the oath of office. An oath is an official promise.

The Constitution says that a president-elect must say the following words before he or she can take over as the new president: I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

• • • solemnly:seriously

    • swear:promise

    • faithfully:loyally

    • execute:carry out

    • preserve:keep the same

The president-elect says these words at a special event called an inauguration ceremony.

This event takes place in January after the election. At the inauguration, the president-elect officially takes over the job of president.