U.S Institution: EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIARY IN THE UNITED STATES PART IV 2. The Election Every four years, the U.S. presidential election takes place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Following to U.S Constitutions requirements, a presidential candidate must be at least 35 years old, must be a natural born citizen of the USA and must be a resident of the USA for 14 years. The process of the US presidential elections is divided into four stages: Primaries and Caucuses; National Conventions; General Election and Electoral College. In the primaries and caucuses, party members get to vote for the candidate that will represent their party in the upcoming general election. At the end of this step, each party holds a national convention to finalize the selection of one Presidential nominee. During this time, each Presidential candidate chooses a running-mate (or Vice-Presidential candidate). Each party is represented by one candidate, the general election process begins. Candidates campaign throughout the country in an attempt to win the support of voters. Finally in November, the people vote for one candidate. When a person casts a vote in the general election, they are not voting directly for an individual Presidential candidate. In the Electoral College system, each state gets a certain number of electors, based on each state’s total number of representation in Congress. Each elector gets one electoral vote. The President-elect and Vice President-elect take the oath of office and are inaugurated two weeks later, on January 20th.