When: 6-9 months before a Presidential Election

During a Primary, Voters choose their preferred candidates anonymously by casting secret ballots. The state where the primary is held takes the votes into account to award delegates winners. Some states also might hold caucus debates. Caucuses are meetings run by political parties that are held at county, district, or precinct level. Some caucuses choose by secret ballot whereas others require participants to divide themselves into groups according to the candidate that they support. Each candidate’s group gives speeches and tries to get others to join their group. The number of delegates given to each candidate is based on the number of caucus votes they receive.

You can vote in a Primary or Caucus one of two ways:

• Open Ballot: When voters do not have to be registered with a Political Party to take part in its Primary/Caucus
• Closed Ballot: When only voters registered with that Party can take part and vote

Voting in a Primary or Caucus usually takes place between January and June of the Election Year. Use this link to figure out when to vote in the Primary/Caucus in your state.

When: July to early September before a Presidential Election

To become a presidential nominee, a candidate typically has to win a majority of delegates. State delegates go to the national conventions to vote to confirm their choice of candidates.

• Types of Delegates at a National Convention:
  • Pledged or bound delegates must support the candidate they were awarded through the primary or caucus process
  • Unpledged delegates or superdelegates can support any presidential candidate they choose
• If none of the party’s candidates have a majority of delegates going into the convention, then it is considered “contested.” Delegates will then pick their presidential nominee through one or more rounds of voting. If no nominee wins in the first round, the convention is considered “brokered” and the pledged delegates may then choose any candidate in later rounds of voting.

Once the presidential candidates are chosen, the presidential candidate then announces their Vice President running mate.

When: From two months before to the date of the Election

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is the governing body that sponsors and organizes the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates. The first general Presidential Debate took place on June 27th, 2024 and was sponsored by CNN. The second will be on September 10th, 2024 sponsored by ABC.

Missed the first Presidential Debate? Watch here!

When: Tuesday, November 5th

Although many voters have started to vote early, election day is when the primary portion of the American public casts a ballot. Most polling sites across the United States close from 6-9 pm on election night, so results from those states usually come shortly after. The primary media sites that cover the election are MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News, so voters will usually tune in there to here on air election coverage. Realistically, the results of the 2024 election won’t be released the night of, as is what happened in 2020, but if they do the winning candidate will usually give a victory speech, and the losing candidate will give a speech conceding the election, in front of devoted fans.

The electoral college is a process which includes the selection of electors, the meeting of electors who cast votes for the president and vice president, and the counting of the electors’ votes by Congress. The president and Vice President are not chosen directly by the citizens in the popular vote but are instead chosen through the electoral college process.

Here's how it works:

1. After you cast your ballot for president, your vote goes into a statewide tally. The winner gets all of the electoral votes for that state.
2. A candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors (more than half of all electors) to win the presidential election
3. A projected winner is announced on election night in November after you vote. The actual Electoral College vote takes place in mid-December.

When: January 20th, 2025

The Presidential Inauguration marks the first day that the new President serves. Both the newly elected President and Vice President are sworn into office with speeches and celebrations to follow.