The presidential race is the process in which the candidates for President of the United States vie for a majority of electoral votes. This election occurs once every four years and is conducted by members of the Electoral College. The candidate who receives the majority of 270 votes is declared the winner and becomes President of the United States.
Candidates for the presidency from each of America’s two major political parties – the Democrats and the Republicans – begin their campaigns early in the year. They go around the country to rallies and participate in televised debates. This is where they explain their plans and views to voters. They also face tough questions from other candidates.
The process is complicated and time consuming. Candidates need to win state primaries and caucuses to be considered for the nomination. Most states have a winner-takes-all rule, which means that whichever candidate gets the most votes in that state will receive all of its electoral votes. This leads to states that lean towards one party having a big impact on the race.
After the primary and caucuses, candidates need to meet a number of criteria to be allowed to participate in the national debates. The moderators of the debates will choose who goes first and will alternate between each candidate. During the debate, each candidate has 2 minutes to answer a question. Then the opposing candidate will get 1 minute to respond and rebut the argument. The moderators use a set of colored lights resembling traffic signals to aid the candidates with their speaking times. Green indicates that 30 seconds is left, yellow shows 15 seconds and red is only 5 seconds remaining before the next question is asked.