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Every four years, the two major U.S. political parties hold national conventions to designate who they will place on the November presidential ballot. The Republican Convention begins August 27 in Tampa, Florida. The Democratic Convention starts on September 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s August and September, time for the Democratic and Republican Parties to officially crown their presidential candidates for the November election. Every four years, the US political parties hold conventions. They follow procedures that formally select each party’s presidential candidate. The conventions begin with the seating of each state’s delegation. These delegates are pledged, by the results of the state primary elections and caucuses, to specific presidential candidates. The next order of business is the adoption of the party’s so-called “platform” - a set of principles and positions the party will stand for in the coming election. Sometimes, there can be a lot of contention over these points if they are controversial. The official selection of each party’s presidential candidate starts with the formal nomination of all those who contended for the top spot on the ticket. This usually takes place on the second to last day of the convention. “The next candidate to be nominated this evening for president of the United States is Senator Barack Obama of Illinois," announced Representative Nancy Pelosi in 2008. | 
