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

3.  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.

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

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

7.  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.

8.  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.

9. Denver, Colorado 25-28 August 2008

10. Minneapolics-Saint Paul, Minnesota 1-4 September 2008

11. 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

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

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

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

15. At FEDERAL level, people can vote for

16. At STATE level, people can vote for

17. At COUNTY level, people can vote for Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, 2002 - 1986-1988

18. At COUNTY level, people can vote for Cal Henderson, Sheriff of Tampa, Florida, 1993-2004

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

20. At COUNTY level, people can vote for

21.  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.