The President must be  a natural-born citizen  at least 35 years old  at least 14 years resident in the USA

 The term of office of a President is 4 years.  No President can be elected more than twice.  The date of the Presidential election is fixed by law as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every leap year.  The new President is inaugurated on January 20 th of the following year.

On election day people can vote for their preferred candidate in a secret ballot. Barack Obama John McCain

 Americans can join a political party in their state.  The main parties are the Republicans and the Democrats.

 You can take part in State Primaries, where you can choose the person you want to be the party’s candidate for President.  State Primaries take place from January to June in election year.

 You can vote for or be chosen as the state party’s delegate to the party’s National Convention.  At the National Convention, you can help to choose the party’s candidate for President.  The Democrats have their Convention in July, and the Republicans in August.

Denver, Colorado August 2008

Minneapolics-Saint Paul, Minnesota 1-4 September 2008

Who raised and spent what in 2008? Candidate (Party) Amount raised Amount spent Average spent per vote Barack Obama (D) $532,946,511$513,557,218 $7.39 John McCain (R) $379,006,485$346,666,422 $5.78 Source: Federal Election Commission The total amount spent by all 148 candidates throughout the election campaign was

Party members can help their candidate by  handing out leaflets, stickers and badges  attending party campaign rallies

Party members can help their candidate by  telephone voters to persuade them to vote for their candidate  attending fundraising events

 Citizens can stand as candidates for elections.  They can try to be elected as President to local dog-catcher.

At FEDERAL level, people can vote for

At STATE level, people can vote for

At COUNTY level, people can vote for Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York,

At COUNTY level, people can vote for Cal Henderson, Sheriff of Tampa, Florida,

At COUNTY level, people can vote for Sarasota County School Board, Florida

At COUNTY level, people can vote for

 As well as voting for candidates, people can vote on issues at the same time.  These are often called Ballot Measures or Propositions.  In 2004, Alaska voted against legalising marijuana, but Montana voted for its use for medical purposes.  In 2008, California voted to ban same-sex marriage.