美国总统选举（US presidential election），简称美国大选，是美国每四年举行一次的选举，以产生总统及副总统。赢得270张或以上选举人票的总统候选人即获得选举胜利。50个州按人口比例分配选举人票。
The US presidential election, also known as the US general election, is an election held every four years in the United States to elect the president and vice president. The presidential candidate who wins 270 or more electoral votes wins the election. The 50 states allocate electoral votes according to population proportion.
美国总统选举实行选举人团制度。选民在大选日投票时，不仅要在总统候选人当中选择，而且要选出代表50个州的众议员和参议员人数535名，另加哥伦比亚特区(首都华盛顿所在选区)的3个选举人名额的538名选举人（Electors），以组成选举人团（Electoral College）。绝大多数州和华盛顿特区均实行“胜者全得”规则，即把本州或特区的选举人票全部给予在本州或特区获得相对多数选民票的总统候选人。当选的选举人必须宣誓在选举人团投票时把票投给在该州获胜的候选人。因此大选结果通常在大选投票日当天便可根据各州选举结果算出。
The US presidential election adopts the Electoral College system. When voters vote on election day, they not only have to choose among the presidential candidates, but also elect 535 representatives and senators representing 50 states, plus 538 electors for three electoral seats in the District of Columbia (the district where the capital Washington is located) to form the Electoral College. The vast majority of states and Washington, D.C. implement the “winner-takes-all” rule, that is, all the electoral votes of the state or district are given to the presidential candidate who wins the relative majority of votes in the state or district. The elected electors must swear to vote for the candidate who wins in the state when the Electoral College votes. Therefore, the results of the general election can usually be calculated on the day of the general election based on the election results of each state.
1787年，制宪会议确立了美国的总统制，并制定了选举人团选举总统的制度。1789年1月，美国第一届总统选举正式开始，其基本进程包括：确定总统、副总统候选人；选举选举人；选举人投票；计算选票；公布结果。最终，乔治·华盛顿以全部选举人票当选总统，约翰·亚当斯当选副总统。自1792年起，美国的总统选举每四年举行一次。 此后，随着政党的出现和发展，选举人团逐渐被两大政党所控制，选举人开始按照党派立场投票。至1824年，各州基本都采取了由选民直接选取选举人的方式，除了缅因州和内布拉斯加州这两个州外，均实行总统候选人“胜者全得”制度，即在一州获得选民票最多者获得该州所有选举人票，并非按普选票得票比例分配选举人票。2024年美国大选是美国历史上第60届（第47任）总统选举，由特朗普和哈里斯分别代表共和党、民主党参与竞选，特朗普胜选。
美国总统选举的复杂性使其堪称全世界耗时最长、难度最大、花钱最多的选举。竞选班子在制订策略时，需要综合考虑各方要求、利益和诉求。由于选举人团制度是美国共和制、联邦制和分权与制衡原则结合的产物，同时也是多种利益间妥协与协调的结果，因此必然存在着自身难以克服的缺陷与弊端。过去两百多年里，美国要求改革选举人团制度的呼声不断，美国国会曾有700多项法案要取消选举人制度，但由于多种因素阻碍，最后都以失败告终。
In 1787, the Constitutional Convention established the US presidential system and established the system of electing the president by the Electoral College. In January 1789, the first US presidential election officially began. Its basic process includes: determining the presidential and vice presidential candidates; electing electors; electors voting; counting votes; and announcing the results. In the end, George Washington was elected president with all the electoral votes, and John Adams was elected vice president. Since 1792, the US presidential election has been held every four years. Since then, with the emergence and development of political parties, the Electoral College has gradually been controlled by the two major parties, and the electors began to vote according to party positions. By 1824, all states had basically adopted the method of directly selecting electors by voters. Except for Maine and Nebraska, the two states all implemented the “winner-takes-all” system for presidential candidates, that is, the person who gets the most votes in a state gets all the electoral votes in that state, and the electoral votes are not allocated according to the proportion of popular votes. The 2024 US presidential election is the 60th (47th) presidential election in US history. Trump and Harris represent the Republican Party and the Democratic Party respectively, and Trump wins.
The complexity of the US presidential election makes it the longest, most difficult and most expensive election in the world. When formulating strategies, the campaign team needs to consider the requirements, interests and demands of all parties. Since the Electoral College system is the product of the combination of the American republic, federalism and the principle of separation of powers and checks and balances, and is also the result of compromise and coordination among multiple interests, it is bound to have its own insurmountable defects and drawbacks. Over the past two hundred years, there have been constant calls for the reform of the Electoral College system in the United States. The US Congress has had more than 700 bills to abolish the Electoral College system, but due to various factors, they all ended in failure.