Written by Sam

Right now, we are in the middle of a presidential election. In this article, I will tell you what still has to happen before the election is over.

First, we must finish the primaries. This is when the people vote to elect a nominee for each party that will then run in the general election. The next primary is in Nebraska on May 12, then Oregon on May 19, and then Hawaii on May 22. After that are the June 2 primaries which are Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Delaware, DC, Indiana, Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota. Then there are Georgia and West Virginia on June 9. After that is Kentucky on June 23, New Jersey on July 7, Louisiana on July 11, and Connecticut on August 11. Now, both parties have a presumptive nominee, so they won’t be that interesting now. However, after Connecticut, the last primary, things will start to get more interesting.

Both parties will need to have a convention. This is where each party will select which candidate will run in the general election. The Democratic Convention is scheduled to take place from August 17-20 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Republican Convention from August 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Democratic Convention was originally going to be in July, but they postponed it because of COVID-19 concerns. At the convention, if we haven’t heard already, Joe Biden will announce his running mate. We already know that incumbent Donald Trump will run with incumbent Mike Pence again.

After the convention is about 2 and a half months of campaigning. Candidates will go around the country to persuade people to vote for them. There will be three debates between nominees and one between the vice presidential candidates. The first one is going to be on September 29, at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. Then comes the vice presidential debate on October 7, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The other presidential debates will take place on October 15 and 22 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Finally, there is Election Day on November 3. All the people vote for either candidate. On December 14, all the members of the Electoral College formally vote for the president, although by then, everyone knows who won. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win, and once they have won, they will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021.