This process is quite different from a direct election, which many countries like India use. The next US presidential election is set to take place on November 5, 2024. The process can be divided into several stages as shown below.
Primary Elections and Party Nominations
The political parties nominate their candidates for president in the presidential primaries and caucuses. The process of these elections or caucuses is called primary and caucus. The main difference between the two lies in that the primary involves secret ballot elections while a caucus holds public discussions and voting at the meetings. Through such an election or caucus, every state delegate votes to one candidate and, as expected, the person who gathers the majority delegates is considered the nominee of his party at the national convention.
Campaign in the General Election
The Democratic and Republican nominees, as well as significant independent candidates, conduct campaigns throughout the country; they debate on television, hold rallies, and in other ways reach out to voters. Voters make their decisions on the first Tuesday of November, in this instance, November 5, 2024.
Electoral College System
The president in the United States is not directly elected by a national popular vote but through the Electoral College system. The system contains 538 electors that formally elect the president and vice president. In order to win, a candidate has to secure a majority of 270 electoral votes.
Distribution of Electoral Votes
Each state has several electoral votes equal to its congressional representation: California has 54, and Wyoming has a minimum of 3. In all of the states except Maine and Nebraska, whoever wins the popular vote takes the entire block of electoral votes in that state.
Final Steps
Electors meet in the states in December to cast formal votes for president and vice president; Congress convenes on January 6 to tally the electoral votes and name the winner. The new president will be inaugurated on January 20.Swing states, whose outcome is far from clear at this point, and the electoral college versus the popular vote are the key factors in the US presidential election. Electoral votes are allocated by state and will be officially tallied by Congress by January 6.
