As the head of state and commander in chief, the president has immense influence over domestic and foreign policy. The Constitution allows for one person to be elected president by receiving a majority of the electoral votes in all 50 states (except Maine and Nebraska). This process is known as the Electoral College.

Throughout a presidential election campaign, the front-runnerths lead often narrows. This is because a candidateths recognition advantage disappears as the campaign heats up and his or her advisers focus on getting the word out to voters. In addition, most of the public opinion data used in polls is outdated and subject to wide margins for error.

Many people have ideas about how the government should work and those with similar ideas form political parties. Each party holds a series of events, called primaries and caucuses to select a presidential nominee. Candidates compete in these events to win the support of delegates who will then vote for them at the party convention. The winner of each partyths nomination is expected to win the presidential election. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, the House of Representatives selects a president from their ranks. Historically, this has happened very rarely. The last time was in 1824, when Andrew Jackson received a plurality but not a majority of electoral votes and the election was thrown to Congress where John Quincy Adams was elected. The Twelfth Amendment established rules for resolving this situation.