Hillary Clinton - One of the Democrat Candidates. Credit: Soggydan (Flickr)

You would be forgiven for not knowing much about the circus currently performing in the United States political ring.

The main reason for this is probably that they call it the “US presidential race”, even though it could be argued that it’s just a bunch of clowns standing up and entertaining people on TV.

However, despite your opinion on the candidates, the scary truth is that one of them will be selected to be the future proclaimed “leader of the free world” and will be the most powerful individual on the international scene.

Considering the far reaching effects of George W. Bush’s time in the White House – just look at the impact he’s had on politics in Britain through the war in Iraq – it seems that the current contest to select a Democratic and a Republican nominee deserves at least a glance.

The United States election process is long and complicated, but the most important factor is who will be taking office in 2009 to run the most powerful country in the world for four years.

Though the rules and procedures of electing the President of the United States may not exactly turn you on, this year’s frontrunners are an African American, a woman and potentially the oldest president in history, giving rise to one of the most interesting contests in recent years.

Having the knowledge to keep track of this race is vital to understanding one of the most important decisions in world politics today.

To help you decipher the involuted and complex process, Pugwash News and Steve Jones presents you a guide to the year long race to elect the next President of the United States.

The first stop on the campaign trail for wannabe presidents is to make sure that they are nominated by their party. Both the Republicans and Democrats name their nominee at their national conventions held during the summer before the general election.

At this conference delegates from districts around the country convene and vote for their chosen candidate on behalf of their constituents.

The two candidates selected at these conventions go on to battle each other during the following months in an effort to win the hearts and minds of the voters, to get voted in as the candidate to eventually run for president.

The choice is therefore an important one, as a bad candidate will not win, and that is the purpose of the primary elections and caucuses.

Different State and party rules mean that the format varies, but the basic concept is that registered party members in each State will cast their ballots at a primary or caucus to indicate their choice for the party’s nominee.

These votes serve one of two purposes depending on the State; either the voter is giving their preference, but the final decision is the delegate’s own, or, more commonly, by gaining votes, candidates are awarded bound delegates who have to vote for them at the party convention. 

The entire primary process takes over five months to complete, with the first contest being the Iowa caucus at the start of January, and the final votes being New Mexico, Montana and South Dakota in June.

Once the primaries are over, there can be two results. If one candidate is a clear leader and mathematically guaranteed a win, that candidate becomes the presumptive nominee for the general election and can begin campaigning directly to be the next president.

If, however, the race is closer between two candidates, the party’s convention will play a key role as those delegates not required by State law to vote for a particular candidate can tip the balance in deciding who wins.

The candidates must then concentrate on pleasing those delegates and their constituents in order to win the key votes.

The final vote is taken at the convention (August for Republicans, September for Democrats) and the nominee is either, depending on the scenario, officially confirmed or given a winning lead. Once the dust settles, the real campaigning begins.

We then proceed to the Presidential Election. The election to select the more presidential of the two candidates takes place in November, so there’s only two months for the candidates to campaign and get their message across to the public.

During this time one of their key decisions is who will be their “running mate.” This is the party’s candidate for vice-president, as voters will be choosing who fills both positions.

Often the running mate is a candidate who lost in the primaries, and sometimes is selected before the nomination is even won. The running mate can be a key factor in swaying independent or undecided voters to one party or another.

Election Day takes place on the first Tuesday of a November week, which this year is 4th November. Voters attend a balloting station intheir district, or if they have moved to a different State can vote via absentee or postal ballots.

The ballot itself has the names of the presidential and vice presidential nominees, but is not actually a direct vote for the candidate. Instead, voters are showing support for the “electors of a candidate,” which means they are voting for members of the Electoral College who have endorsed a particular nominee.

The Electoral College is a group of 538 electors who are selected during the general election to represent the constituents in their districts, and Election Day itself actually nominates who will be allowed to vote for president.

Therefore, the president and vice president are actually selected by the Electoral College on behalf of the voters. This may seem very complicated, but in essence voters are stating their preference for president by naming an individual who will vote for one candidate or another.

At the end of voting, the ballots are counted and the candidate with the most Electoral College votes is named President-elect, to take office in January of the following year.