As we continue to look closer to the 2020 presidential election, New voters are given the opportunity to make a change in the world through their votes. But how does the word system actually work? Do citizen votes directly have an impact on the presidents? Do citizen votes even really matter? Why are people being pushed to vote? In this election for dummies guide, I will be explaining how the election process actually works.

STEP 1: Let’s start from the beginning. Before even considering the presidential candidates they need to go through a set of requirements before indulging in their campaign. The requirements to be a President of the United States is to be a natural-born U.S. citizen, 35 years of age and must’ve lived in the United States for at least 14 years. Once they make these requirements they are free to start their campaign. And after a whole process of rallies campaigning through advertisements etc. there is finally one candidate from each party.

STEP 2: Once the candidates from each party have been identified, they continue to campaign and prove why they should be the President. One of the main steps in decision making for citizens is the presidential debate that happened not long ago on Sept. 29. Although some say that that election, in particular, was probably the worst that we’ve had in a long time, it is a crucial element for citizens so that they know what plan each candidate proposes to implement.

STEP 3: Time to vote! On voting days, citizens across the country go to either in-person ballots or in our current case: complete mail-in ballots to voice their opinions. But are U.S. citizens directly voting for a president? What citizens are actually voting for our representatives in something called the electoral college. The members of the electoral college for each state include 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans. After the voting time period in a state is over, ballots are evaluated. Whichever party was voted for in majority, the corresponding electoral college representatives are in charge of that state’s votes. So it is actually the electoral college who makes the votes rather than the direct citizens. This policy was put into place because citizens tend to not do thorough research before voting for whichever candidate or just vote for the same party even though it’s not a good candidate. So that is why even if one candidate wins the popular vote they might not win the actual election just like the example from the previous election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

So be sure to vote and do your part and ensure that the best president gets chosen for our country and look forward to our election on Nov. 3, 2020.