The central political event of 2012 in the United States is the presidential elections in the country. The head of state is elected for a four-year term and during this time determines the main directions of the internal and external course of the state. The political system of the United States is structured in a peculiar way, which makes the struggle between candidates for the highest post especially acute.
According to the legislation in force in the United States of America, the president of the country is elected together with the vice president for a term of 4 years through a two-stage election. In this connection, candidates for top government positions go through all stages of the electoral process.
Elections are indirect, with an electoral college nominated by the Legislature of each state to vote for the President and Vice President. States determine their electors by universal suffrage. The voting of electors is a rather formal procedure, although there have been cases in history when individual electors did not vote as promised at the time of their election.
Voting for candidates for both government posts takes place separately. To be elected, a candidate needs to collect more than half of the electoral votes, the number of which today is 538 people. If none of the candidates gains an absolute majority, the House of Representatives or the Senate of Congress elects the President and Vice President from among those candidates who have the most electoral votes, as stated in the country's Constitution.
The next 57th US presidential election will be held on November 6, 2012. According to RIA Novosti, midterm elections (primaries) held in individual states indicate that Mitt Romney has the greatest chances of becoming a candidate from the Republican Party. The competition for him, obviously, will be the current president of the country, Barack Obama, whose positions are strong enough to confidently lead within the US Democratic Party. Opinion poll data show that Americans' votes are roughly evenly distributed, so the political race promises to be very hot in the final stage. The main topic of the pre-election discussions will be the economic situation in the United States.
Regardless of who becomes the new head of state, the inauguration ceremony of the new president will take place on January 20, 2013.
