1. Electing a President All about electing a President of the United States

5. We know who the nominees are in 2008. There were several people running for President but the two chosen candidates are Arizona Senator John McCain and Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

6. Arizona Senator John McCain is the Republican Party Presidential Candidate. His Vice Presidential running mate is Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska.

7. Illinois Senator Barack Obama is the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate. His Vice Presidential running mate is Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.

8. It takes a lot of work and many months to be elected president. The candidates try to get people to vote for them by giving speeches, shaking hands, giving interviews and paying for ads on TV, radio, and in newspapers.

9. People vote during the state primaries. Primaries help each party decide who to choose as their presidential candidate. Both Democratic and Republican parties elect a single representative to run for President.

10. The political parties choose a candidate at their conventions. The candidate then picks their Vice Presidential running mate. The members of the party choose the ideas they think are important and the candidates begin to campaign.

11. The candidates really campaign hard. They march in parades, shake more hands, give more speeches, and talk on TV shows. Volunteers put up signs, banners, posters, and make phone calls to convince people to vote for their candidate.

12. The candidates have debates where they answer questions about the issues that are important to the people in our country. The debates are shown on television and lots of people watch. The debates help voters decide who to vote for.

13. On election day people all over the United States go to a polling location and vote their choice for President. Below is a picture of a voter casting their vote in an election booth. Some people vote by punching a hole in a card, some use computers with touch screen, some people still vote using paper ballots or by putting an X in a box next to the candidate's name.

14. You have to be at least 18 years old to vote, you must be a United States citizen, and you must be registered to vote. A person who is in jail or who is on probation for committing a felony (serious crime such as murder or robbery) cannot vote.

15. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes. The more people that live in your state-the more electoral votes your state gets. In 48 of the states, the candidate that gets the most votes gets all the electoral votes for that state. Nebraska and Maine, do not follow the winner-take-all rule. In those two states there could be a split of electoral votes among the candidates. The first candidate to win 270 electoral votes becomes the President!

16. On January 20, the President is sworn in, in Washington, D.C. He recites an oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

17. The new President and his family move into the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. That's when the hard work really started. They will live there and work there for the next four years.

18. Now that you have completed the informational slideshow, follow the site below to complete part two of this assignment. After completing the quiz, be sure to submit your responses by clicking the submit button. HAPPY VOTING! Electing the President Quiz