Transcript The Path to the Presidency

The Path to the Presidency
Who can be President?
A Presidential Candidate must…
• Be a natural-born citizen of the United
States
• Have been a resident of the United States
for 14 years or more
• Be at least 35 years old
Primaries and Caucuses
• First-round elections or meetings held in
each state to give direction in choosing a
party candidate
• New Hampshire held the first primary of
2012 on Tuesday, January 10th.
• March 6th was known as “Super Tuesday”
because 11 states held primaries on that
day.
Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania did not hold its primaries
until April 24th. Some people would like
our state to have them earlier in the year.
Can you guess why?
National Conventions
• Conventions are large events where
delegates gather to formally select their
party’s candidate for the general election.
• The Democratic National Convention was
held in Charlotte, NC from September 4th6th.
• The Republican National Convention was
held in Tampa, FL from August 27th-30 1st4th.
• Who was chosen at each convention?
The General Election
• The main election
• Held on the first Tuesday after the first
Monday in November
• Another name for voting is “casting your
ballot.”
Who may vote?
You must:
• Be a U.S. citizen
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Meet the requirements of your state (ex.residency)
What about soldiers?
• Any citizen who will not be able to go to
the polls (voting place) on Election Day,
such as soldiers serving abroad may vote
by absentee ballot.
The Electoral College
• The group of people representing each of
the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Their votes, guided by the general election
results in their states, elect the president.
The Inauguration
• The ceremony at which the newly elected
president takes the oath of office and
officially begins serving a term.