Presidential primary how does it work

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He's the one who campaigned for the change - and it may benefit him in After inching past Iowa, negotiated New Hampshire, survived Super Tuesday and come through the convention, there is only one step left for the nominee: the presidential election, on 3 November. We'll explain how that one works a little closer to the time. Primaries unless stated otherwise. Monday 3. Tuesday Saturday Saturday 29 :. Tuesday 3 Super Tuesday.

Thursday, Sunday Saturday 4. Tuesday 7. Saturday 2. Tuesday 5. Tuesday 2. Saturday 6. Sunday 7. Democrats on the attack - against each other. The key issues for Democrats. Who are the Democrats vying to take on Trump? Image source, Reuters. Iowa, where it's never too cold to caucus.

Step one: The start line. Which Democrat will take on Trump? The strange symbol on one candidate's hand. Step two: The Iowa caucuses. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

How Iowa is like the luge: An unconventional guide to the caucuses. Nine odd things about the Iowa caucuses Democrats' key issues explained. Share this Explainer. Step three: The New Hampshire primary. Image source, Getty Images. The picture became much clearer on Step four: Super Tuesday. Step five: The rest of the race.

Step six: The conventions. Image source, AFP. Hillary Clinton celebrates becoming the Democratic nominee at the convention. This is as good as things got for her campaign. Here's where those delegates come in. The primary serves as a measure of public opinion but is not necessarily binding in choosing delegates. Sometimes the Party does not recognize open primaries because members of other parties are permitted to vote. The Democratic Party always uses a proportional method for awarding delegates.

The percentage of delegates each candidate is awarded or the number of undecided delegates is representative of the mood of the caucus-goers or the number of primary votes for the candidate. For example imagine a state with ten delegates and three candidates. The Republican Party, unlike the Democratic Party, allows each state to decide whether to use the winner-take-all method or the proportional method. In the winner-take-all method the candidate whom the majority of caucus participants or voters support receives all the delegates for the state.

It is essential to remember that this is a general guide and that the primary system differs significantly from state to state. The best way to find information about your state is to contact your state Board of Elections. Michael Nelson, Ed. This is a card processor fee.

Please know that a recurring donation of the amount and frequency that you selected will be processed and initiated tomorrow. Continue to secure page ». Government For Teachers. The Convention Prior to a general election, there is a selection process to determine which candidate will appear on the ballot for a given political party in the nationwide general election.

The Caucus Caucuses were the original method for selecting candidates but have decreased in number since the primary was introduced in the early 's.