So today we’ll do a lot of maths to determine who actually is the Democratic nominee AND what are the chances of the candidates in November. All bases on facts, polls and election rules.

But first, let’s determine how the President is elected.

As you may know, voters are required to vote on a ballot where they select the candidate of their choice. The presidential ballot is actually voting “for the electors of a candidate” meaning that the voter is not actually voting for the candidate, but endorsing members of the Electoral College who will, in turn, directly elect the President.

Thing to remember #1:

the magic number is 270. The individual who receives a majority of votes for president — as of 2008, 270 votes are needed for a majority — will be the president-elect of the United States; and the individual who receives a majority of electoral votes for vice president will be the vice president-elect of the United States. If no presidential candidate receives a majority in the Electoral College, then the president-elect will be selected by a vote of the House of Representatives, with each state receiving a single vote. If no vice presidential candidate receives a majority, then the vice president-elect will be selected by a vote of the Senate. Although rare, these latter scenarios have occurred twice in America’s history; the House of Representatives chose the president in 1825, and the Senate chose the vice president in 1837.

So House and Senate elections are as important as the elections of the President, because as we will later show this could be a historic year in many aspects.

Thing to remember #2:

you can vote for any eligible candidate, not only that person on the ballot. You can either write-in another candidate or require that the party lists two or more candidates as stated by law. “Usually, the size of the candidate’s political party and the results of the major nomination conventions determine who is pre-listed on the presidential ballot. Thus, the presidential election ticket will not list every single candidate running for President, but only those who have secured a major party nomination or whose size of their political party warrants having been formally listed. Laws are in effect to have other candidates pre-listed on a ticket, provided that a sufficient number of voters have endorsed the candidate, usually through a signature list.”

So both Clinton and Obama should be on the Democratic list, that’s what the law says.