Barack Obama Makes it Into the History Books!

McCain Concedes Defeat.

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Elections 101.

The presidential prize is in sight as the nation's registered voters head to the polls on the first Tuesday in November to decide who'll lead the country.

November 4 is Election Day in 2008, with polls opening as early as midnight in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, and finally closing in Hawaii and Alaska.

Although polls across the country are open on one day, the election is not a national poll but a series of 51 state-level elections that decide the members of the Electoral College. Technically, voters aren't choosing a candidate but a slate of electors who have pledged to vote for that candidate when the Electoral College meets.

The candidate who wins the most votes in each state normally wins all of that state's electoral votes. With 538 electors up for grabs, the candidate with more than half -- 270 -- wins the presidency. The number of electors from each state equals the number of senators and representatives the state sends to Congress. If no candidate receives 270 electors, the House of Representatives decides who the next president will be.

The Electoral College meets in December to formalize the election, although the results are usually known soon after the election, and preparations already have begun for a presidential transition (if necessary) and the inaugural ceremony on the Capitol steps on January 20.