In detail, how does the U.S. elect a president??
926839
The parties (Democrat and Republican) vote for their candidate they want to represent them!  The electoral college has a certain number of people according to the size of their state.  It adds up to 536 and the candidate needs 270 votes to win.  They try to get to get the higher populated states such as Florida, California, Ohio, and Texas so they win.  I believe the voter's votes are factored in also.
530064
The Electorial College is who really votes for the President of the United States. This is not a democracy, this is a republic and as such we elect people to make our choices for us. This holds true with the Electorial College. Each state elects people to send to the Electorial College to vote for the President. At times the representatives we send vote in a way that they were not sent to vote. Twice in the history of the United States the popular vote and the Electorial College have differed in who they elected to the Presidency. With over 300 million people, you would not think that one vote would count, but now we know --- just look at florida 2000.
62688
They are actually voting for electors in the electoral college. In most tates, the electors are required to cast a vote for whatever candidate won the popular vote in that state.
874959
Members of the electoral college are selected by the respective state political parties. Generally, this is done at their annual conventions and the electors are normally party loyalists and workers. Each party submits a slate of electors to the state Registrar prior to the general election. The party whose candidate receives the majority of the votes in a given state will have its set of electors certified as the official members of the electoral college and they are sent to Washington D.C. to cast their ballots. Once the election results are affirmed, the electors are disbanded until the next election in four years.\n\nYou can find out the names of the people on the slate of electors by contacting the respective party HQ in your state or by contacting the State Registrar's office. They will not have the information however until after the state political conventions during the election year.
1061794
By way of Electorial Process that was established in our constitution in article two. That is the way we have always voted for a president except during the formation years of our government when we had one year presidents. George Bush won the electorial vote and thats the way it was. The Democrats demanded a recount and the Supreme Court ruled the the recount was final. Its that simple and documented so go read it.
1029500
Just like the Presidential nominee, by the convention delegates.\n\nThe Presidential candidate has recently chosen his running mate, but officially the VP slot on the ticket can only be filled according to the votes of the convention delegates. And yes, that is an official procedure.
260230
Well its complicated really. Each state has a certain number of electors that are based on the amount of congress persons that state has representing them in Washington. So if a state has 4 members in the House and 2 in the Senate, then the state has a total of 6 electors. If the popular vote is won by the republican candidate for a state then the republican candidate WILL get the electors for that sate. The only two states that are an exception to that rule are Maine and Nebraska. In those two states the electors could be divided between the candidates of both parties, but that has yet to happen. The complicated part is that the nation wide popular vote doesn't not guarantee one candidate will win. Each state has a certain number of electors, so the final result is based on the amount of electors received, and the amount of electors is based on Congress person, and the balance there is based on the population, not the amount of registered voters. For the most part the popular vote dose determine the winner, but there is a chance that the a candidate can win the presidency and loose the popular vote. To my knowledge this has only happened once in the history of the nation.
404102
Yes, they can. However, as the President is elected by electoral votes (which are determined by a state's population), all of the people residing there actually only get one vote. How's that for fair?
147300
There was no presidential election in 2001. \n\nGore won the popular vote in the 2000 elections, Bush the electoral vote with some help from FLorida officials and Supreme Court justices. \n\nWhen will we have direct voting for presidents?
1063672
Well, that's part of America's government. Because we are actually a republic (and NOT a democracy) like the idiots on television like to say, we vote for people to represent us. So in a sense, the people do decide by electing representatives on their own behalf who represent their own beliefs to go to Washington to do crap.\n\nAs where in a democracy, the people vote on absolutely everything, which is expensive.
468101
If there is one thing that the United States is not, is a democracy.  It is a Constitutional Republic.  Every natural born citizen has the opportunity to work their way through the political system and become President.  Unlike many countries, it matters little where the individual came from and more what the people think of the individual.
13674
Our political system actually filters out decent, ethical and talented candidates.  We have elections, but no democracy in the USA (elected officials generally represent lobbyists and crony friends).  A possible solution is to employ the jury system (random selection of representatives) to fill our legislatures and have them select the President.  Realistically, of course, nothing like this will happen so we remain destined to suffer from Presidents who are so beholden to a few that no real leadership can emerge.  Yours is a great question, however, and the more folks ask it the more likely some changes will result.
795435
In a Democracy, you get the leadership you deserve.  The American people are stupid, so stupid leadership is what they will vote for.  Any candidate who is intelligent would do well to conceal it.
94471
I do not agree with the last answer before mine. The United Sates of America does not have a Democracy. We have a Repubic, where we elect people to represent us. In a true Democracy, all citizens vote on every issue. It is as simple as that. The people truly have power, and do make the decisions. However, because of the population of the world now, getting every citizen in a country to vote on every issue would be a chaotic mess. Also, this would it much easier for people to change ballots (something Jeb Bush obviously did to get his brother George elected for President in 2000).
13967
Good explanation here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Electoral_College\n\nBasically, the people vote, and the representatives of the Electoral College get to cast the real vote.  Who gets to be in the Electoral College is based upon the people's vote.\n\nThe Electoral College can do something unexpected, and vote against the will of the people.  But that doesn't happen very often.\n\nSo really, the people's vote is simply to determine which PARTY gets to put someone into the Electoral College, to cast the REAL vote.  And then a very small number of real people - individuals who are in the Electoral College - determine who the President is, by casting a vote.\n\nYes, it's a stupid system!
690430
If the Electoral College fails to award a majority to a candidate, the President is elected by the Senate and the Vice President is elected by the House of Representatives.  If that happens, then theoretically ANYBODY can get to either position, whether they were candidates or not.\n\nThis hasn't happened - yet. So far, the Electoral College has always come up with a winner, though not always the same winner as the voters had in mind.
128353
our forefathers set forth in the Constitution how the government was to be run, and leaders selected, which is how we do it today.\n\nYou can't have a country run by everybody individually - leaders must be selected, and through the election process the majority of the population decides who those leaders are.\n\nIt's not a perfect system, but it's a lot better than most.