Elections 101 - Election Center 2008

Hot Topics » Health Care in America • Commentary • Political Ticker • more topics »

Main

Elections 101: Path to the Presidency

Intro

Primaries and Caucuses

Party Conventions

Election Day and Beyond

January 3 - February 4

Super Tuesday

February (other dates)

March

April

May - July

January 3 - February 4

The early primary season did little to determine a solid front-runner for either party's nomination. Each of three Republican front-runners won somewhere in the early races, while Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton traded states, each seemingly capable of winning the party's nod.

January 3:	Iowa caucuses
January 5:	Wyoming caucuses
January 8:	New Hampshire primaries
January 15:	Michigan primaries
January 19:	Nevada caucuses
	South Carolina primary
January 26:	South Carolina primary
January 29:	Florida primaries
February 2:	Maine caucuses
States to Watch:	IA \| NH \| NV \| SC \| FL

The presidential prize is in sight as the nation's registered voters head to the polls on the first Tuesday in November to decide who'll lead the country.

November 4 is Election Day in 2008, with polls opening as early as midnight in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, and finally closing in Hawaii and Alaska.

Although polls across the country are open on one day, the election is not a national poll

but a series of 51 state-level elections that decide the members of the Electoral College. Technically, voters aren't choosing a candidate but a slate of electors who have pledged to vote for that candidate when the Electoral College meets.

The candidate who wins the most votes in each state normally wins all of that state's electoral

1 of 2

More Information

Pollfinder
Find your Election Day voting location using Google Maps. You'll only need your home address and ZIP code.

Voter ID laws
States across the country have different ID laws for voting. What are the laws in your state?

Voting machines
Check out this interactive for details on the three most common kinds of voting machines.

Talking Democracy
Answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the Electoral College.

The lay of the land

CNN Electoral College Map
Which states are toss-ups, which are "safe" and which are leaning toward Obama or McCain. See who's ahead

The Issues

Abortion • Energy • Health care • Housing • Iran • Iraq
Same-sex marriage • Taxes

All Campaign Issues

From the Blogs: Controversy, commentary, and debate

iReport Film Festival: Campaign 2008!

Excited about the election? We want YOU to make a short film for the iReport Film Festival, an online festival of short films from the campaign trail!

Send an i-Report

more I-Reports »

Election News and Analysis

Latest Headlines

more Politics news »

CNNPolitics Video

The RidicuList: Toby Harnden 4:02
Show me the money 1:55
Explain it to me: Bush-era tax cuts 2:27

Introduction
The road to the White House, as the Beatles might have said, is long and winding -- and the 2008 contest is no exception. Campaigning started earlier than ever, with candidates running at a breakneck pace a year before any votes were cast. The road includes major stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, a semi-national primary on February 5, national party conventions in Denver, Colorado, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, a national		Election Day in November and a meeting of the Electoral College in December -- with dozens of filing deadlines and thousands of fundraisers, chicken dinners and campaign stops along the way. And it all leads to Inauguration Day in January 2009, when the new president and vice president take office on the steps of the Capitol in Washington.

From the Blogs: Controversy, commentary, and debate

Sit tight, we're getting to the good stuff