The presidential elections take place every 4 years. The method of choosing a President is so complicated that even the Americans are confused about it. Generally, there are 5 steps.
Step 1 The Primary
This is the election of delegates to the national conventions of the two parties in each state from February to June of the Election Year.
Step 2 The National Conventions
The national Conventions of the two parties are held in July or August. It begins with the discussion and acceptance of the Party’s general policy, and then it has to choose a presidential candidate. A lot of bargains, compromises and manipulation by party leader are needed during the process. The candidate who can receive more than half of the votes will be elected as the presidential candidate. The whole party will help its candidate to get support later.
Step 3 The Election Campaign
The election campaign is conducted from September to November. In this period, the presidential candidates travel all over the country, making countless speeches and trying to win the support of the voters. They use every possible means to influence the voters: TV talks and debates, newspaper statements and interviews, public rallies, party dinners, newspaper advertising, and so on.
Step 4 The Election Day
The Election Day is usually the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in an election year. The voters don’t vote directly for the President. They vote for the electors（选举人）who are named by the two parties, and the electors will vote for the President later. The number of elector in each state is equal to the total number of its Representatives and Senators in Congress. In other words, the larger a state’s population, the more electors it is allocated. So the most populous state California may have 55 presidential electors, while the least populous state Wyoming may only have 3.
American elections adopt a “winner-takes-all”（胜者得全票规则）practice (expect Manie and Nebraska). So even if a presidential candidate wins 51% of the popular vote (cast by the voters for the election of electors), he is awarded all the electoral votes (cast by the electors for the election of the President) of that state. Let’s still take California as an example. Each party in California names 55 candidates. If one party receives more than half of the popular votes, all the candidates of the party will be the electors of California, while the other part will have none.
There are altogether 538 electoral votes（538 votes equals 100 Senators, 435 Representatives and 3 votes from D.C.. Though the number votes equals that of Congressmen, the electors are not necessarily Congressmen）, so the first candidate who get 270 votes,which is more than half of the votes, will be the next president.
As the electors will certainly vote of the presidential candidate of their own party, the next President is already elected when the electors are chosen on this Election Day.
Step 5 Casting the Electoral Vote
The process is simply a formality. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday of December, the electors meet in the capital of their own state and vote for the President.
At last, the newly elected president and vice president will be inaugurated (宣誓就职) in January.
