As explained in earlier posts - the French Presidential election takes two rounds - the first in which all parties can put up a candidate - and the second, in which only the highest scoring candidates face off. The first round takes place on April 22nd and the final round on May 6th.
In the United States the Republicans continue with a series of debates before the State primaries or caucuses (each State has its own method of selecting nominees for each party). The primary season has inched forward - so watch this space for details of the calendar as it changes. The chosen nominee will formally be announced at the respective conventions - but in recent decades, the winner has been obvious for some time before.
The current calendar is -
01-10December 2011 or Early January 2012 New Hampshire primary
01-03January 3, 2012 (tentative) Iowa caucus
January 14, 2012 Nevada caucus
January 21, 2012 South Carolina primary
January 31, 2012 Florida primary
February 4–11, 2012 Maine caucus
February 7, 2012 Colorado caucus
February 7, 2012 Minnesota caucus
February 28, 2012 Arizona primary
February 28, 2012 Michigan primary
March 3, 2012 Washington caucus
March 6, 2012 Alaska caucus
March 6, 2012 Georgia primary
March 6, 2012 Idaho caucus
March 6, 2012 Massachusetts primary
March 6, 2012 North Dakota caucus
March 6, 2012 Ohio primary
March 6, 2012 Oklahoma primary
March 6, 2012 Tennessee primary
March 6, 2012 Texas primary
March 6, 2012 Vermont primary
March 6, 2012 Virginia primary
March 6–10, 2012 Wyoming caucus
March 10, 2012 Kansas caucus
March 10, 2012 U.S. Virgin Islands caucus
March 13, 2012 Alabama primary
March 13, 2012 Hawaii caucus
March 13, 2012 Mississippi primary
March 17, 2012 Missouri caucus
March 20, 2012 Illinois primary
March 24, 2012 Louisiana primary
April 3, 2012 Maryland primary
April 3, 2012 Washington, D.C. primary
April 3, 2012 Wisconsin primary
April 24, 2012 Connecticut primary
April 24, 2012 Delaware primary
April 24, 2012 New York primary
April 24, 2012 Pennsylvania primary
April 24, 2012 Rhode Island primary
May 8, 2012 Indiana primary
May 8, 2012 North Carolina primary
May 8, 2012 West Virginia primary
May 15, 2012 Nebraska primary
May 15, 2012 Oregon primary
May 22, 2012 Arkansas primary
May 22, 2012 Kentucky primary
June 5, 2012 California primary
June 5, 2012 Montana primary
June 5, 2012 New Jersey primary
June 5, 2012 New Mexico primary
June 5, 2012 South Dakota primary
June 26, 2012 Utah primary
Not yet scheduled American Samoa caucus
Not yet scheduled Guam caucus
Not yet scheduled Northern Mariana Islands caucus
Not yet scheduled Puerto Rico caucus
