Election process and electoral college

​National Convention

Each of the 2 major parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, holds a national convention, where they select their candidate and announce the party platform.

​Party platform

The party platform are the policies the candidate will focus on if elected.


The platform is designed to appeal to voters; candidates don't always follow through with promised policies.

Campaigning and debating

Once a candidate is nominated by their party, they work to win the votes in states with a lot of voters, paying particular attention to swing states.


Swing states are important because they are not clearly supporting the Democrats (blue states) and Republicans (red states) and can be convinced to support one candidate over another.

Campaigning and debating

Debates, where opponents answer questions about their policies and ideas, are a chance to convince undecided voters to support them.

Electors decide who will be the next president. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.

In most states, whomever gets the most popular votes, gains the electors' vote.

​Electoral College

Also known as the 'popular vote', general elections help select the electors, who will vote for the President.

​General Elections

​What happens if there is a tie?

The House of Representatives votes on whom the next President will be.

How many electoral votes does each state get?

It is based on population and mirrors the number of representatives + senators each state is apportioned. Each state has a least 3.

Why is the electoral college used?

Originally, the Founding Fathers didn't believe the average American was educated enough to vote responsibly and wanted a check on the popular vote.



Today, the electoral college continues to ensure each state is important to the election.