How Exactly Do the Elections in the United States Work?

So somebody asked me today if I had made up my mind yet if I am going to vote of Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the General Election next year.  First off, it’s not until July 7, 2016.  So what’s the rush for me to make a decision.  There is still a lot of things to think about, because each of them has their own good merits.  At this point, I’d vote for both of them.  But that got me thinking.  What exactly is the Primary Election for if it is the delegates at the Democratic National Convention who end up voting for the person who get’s the parties nomination?

I have been all over Google and to numerous websites and can’t quite still figure out what the purpose of the Primary Election is.  I think I should finish my GED and then go on to study elections.  Because from what I can find out is that it is the delegates at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions that actually vote for who will end up with the nomination.  Then in the General Election it is another group of delegate that actually vote for the President from what is called the Electoral College.  And no, it is not a place.  You can’t walk into it like you can UCLA.  It is a process, not a place.

But here is something really stupid that I found and can really twist your brain.  The delegates to a party are supposed to vote for the candidate of their party should they win the popular vote in the state.  So just as an example: if Hillary Clinton were to win the Democratic Party nomination, and then she won the popular vote here in California, then the party delegates would vote for Clinton from the Electoral College.  Here is the kicker – THEY DON’T HAVE TO!  They could, in fact, vote for the Republican candidate instead.  According to Archives.gov “there is no constitutional provision or Federal law that requires Electors to vote according to the results of the popular vote in their states.”  It also says that though it is rare that the delegates don’t follow the popular vote, “no Elector has ever been prosecuted for failing to vote as pledged.”  So essentially we are putting the entire Presidential election in the hands of 538 people who can vote however they want to.  So whats to say that we all like Clinton and the Electors like (heaven forbid it) Donald Trump?

I know that I have a long way to go to figure this whole thing out, and maybe by volunteering with the Democratic Party will lend me some education on the subject.  The thing is, I don’t want to volunteer and end up supporting anyone.  I want to volunteer to figure out how the whole thing works.

From what I have figured is that the state’s Primary Election determines how many delegates a candidate wins in that state.  Then those delegates go to the Party National Convention where THEY vote for the candidate.  Then in the General Election the winner of the popular vote wins the number of delegates for that state who are supposed to vote for their candidate, but don’t have to.

To put it another way, we are voting for people, who will vote to nominate the candidate at the conventions.  Then we vote again for other people to vote for the President in the General Election.  Wow, does that sound totally messed up when you hear it like that.  So now I’m on a quest to find out how one becomes a delegate, and what the hell do they actually do.

Nope, haven’t made up my mind who I am going to vote for in the Primary yet.  Let me get a few migraines trying to figure out how the Primary works first, then I’ll let you know.

Love to you all

~Ryan