The Electoral College The Electoral College system remains at the heart of the American electoral system . A general/presidential election is held in November of election year. The incumbent president, should he lose this election, stays in office until January so that he can run down his government in a controlled manner and so that the newly elected president can a) select his cabinet in an orderly manner b) allow the standing president to deal with issues such as foreign policy which a  president-elect might not be in a position to fully understand all the difficulties involved and domestic issues also for the same reason. Logically a president in power for 4 years is more likely to have a more structured understanding of complex problems than a president-elect. It is traditional for an incoming president to be joined by the outgoing president at the swearing in ceremony held at Capitol Hill as this is seen as a gesture of unity and a symbol that both have the heart of America at the forefront of their minds and that political disunity that might affect other nations does not do so in America. A general election does not elect the president . It states in numeric terms how many people voted for each candidate but only that. The election of a president is determined by the Electoral College though their votes usually follow the popularity of the voters. Each state has a number of delegates attached to it who are members of