The presidential race is a national election in which American voters choose a President and Vice President. The candidates are members of the country’s two main political parties: Democrats and Republicans. When people decide to run for president, they usually form exploratory committees to see if they can raise and spend enough money for a nationwide campaign. If they are able to, the candidate officially announces their candidacy in the spring of the calendar year. Then, they go on a long tour to meet with voters and rally their supporters. The campaigns also participate in televised debates.
The candidates compete in the state primaries and caucuses to earn the votes of delegates that will represent their party at the national convention. Once those are over, the two remaining candidates fight to win a majority of electoral votes. This is done by competing in a series of nationally televised debates. The first few rounds tend to be a battle of style and image, but the last one is often about policy.
If neither candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes, Congress, under the Twentieth Amendment, determines the winner of the presidency. If the winner of the electoral vote is a sitting president, the vice president takes over as acting president.
In the United States, all citizens who are at least eighteen years old can vote in a presidential election. Most states have a winner-takes-all rule, meaning that the candidate who receives the most votes in each state will get all of its electoral college votes. However, there are a few states that are historically close to either party, which are known as swing states.