The Presidential Selection Process

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The Presidential Selection Process

• A Race For the White House

www.votinginfo.info
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• Winning the vote is only an opening wedge, but
  to learn to use it is a bigger task." Voting
  is "a tool to build a better nationto provide
  for the common welfareto help humanity upward."
• Carrie Chapman Catt
• Founder, League of Women Voters

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League of Women Voters

• Founded in 1920
• Nonpartisan
• Encourage informed and active participation in
  government
• Voters Service Voter Education

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What you will learn during this presentation

• How does a candidate get on the ballot?
• Who can vote in a Primary?
• What is the role of political parties in
  determining nominees?
• Who chooses the VP candidates?
• What is the Electoral College?
• Why does the popular vote not necessarily elect
  the president?

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Campaigning

• Debates
• Pre-primary
• Pre-election
• Sponsored by the Commission on Presidential
  Debates established in 1987 to ensure that
  debates are a permanent part of every general
  election.
• Internet Ads Direct Mail - Blogs

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Steps in the Process

• 1. Campaigning and fundraising
• 2. Caucuses and Primaries
• 3. Political party conventions
• 4. Election Day
• 5. Vote of the Electoral College

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Fundraising

• 1.2 Billion spent in presidential race in 04
• www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml
• www.opensecrets.org
• - Who is giving to candidates?
• - Who is receiving the largest campaign
  contributions?
• - What is the money spent on?

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Five Types of Delegate Nomination

• Delegate nomination narrows the field of
  contenders for the nomination.
• There are six types of Primaries
• Open Primaries
• Closed Primaries
• Semi-closed MA uses this type
• Semi-open
• Blanket
• Run-off
• There are Caucuses in some states.

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Voting in the MA Primary

• MA Presidential Primary was February 5, 2008.
• Turnout was approximately 38.7 of the eligible
  voting population of 4,496,320.

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Massachusetts Primary

• You do not have to be registered in a political
  party to vote in the Primary.
• If you are unenrolled, you select whichever
  partys ballot you chose.
• If you are enrolled in a political party, you can
  only vote in that partys primary.
• If you are enrolled in a party and wish to vote
  in a different partys Primary, you must change
  your enrollment status by the voter registration
  deadline.

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Narrowing the Field

• During and after the primary elections, many
  candidates are forced to drop out because of lack
  of support.
• National conventions serve to nominate their
  partys candidate for president and vice
  president.

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National Conventions

• Delegates attend the National Conventions to cast
  their votes for a candidate.
• Democratic Party Convention August 25, 2008 in
  Denver, CO
• Republican Party Convention September 1, 2008 in
  St. Paul, MN
• Candidate with a majority of delegate votes wins
  that partys nomination for President.
• Vice Presidential candidates are chosen by the
  Presidential nominee and are nominated at the
  National Convention.

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Republican Party Convention

• 2,439 delegates are selected by state primaries
  to the winning candidates
• 662 delegates are unpledged.
• The convention floor will seat approximately
  5,500 delegates and alternates.

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Democratic Party Convention

• 3,515 pledged delegates selected by primary
  voters and caucus participants
• 852 unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates
  (DNC members, Members of Congress, Governors, and
  other important people in the party.
• Pledged delegates are allocated among the states
  in rough proportion to the votes each state gave
  the Democratic candidate in the last three
  Presidential elections and the percentage of
  votes each state has in the Electoral College.

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Now What??

• Primaries and national conventions require
  fundraising.
• Candidates fundraise and campaign during the
  entire race until Election Day.
• Watch the debates and listen to advertisements
  with a discerning ear so that you know which
  candidate shares your views

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Email Reminders for Election 08

• www.votinginfo.info
• Subscribe to the League of Women Voters
  electronic Election 2008 reminder service
• Important election dates and deadlines
• Debates reminders
• Absentee ballot information
• and more

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Election Day- Nov. 4, 2008

• Be a part of American democracy and get out and
  vote.
• Register to vote by October 15, 2008.
• You dont have to be enrolled in a party to vote
  in the Presidential Election. Even if you are
  enrolled in a party, you can vote for any
  candidate, regardless of their party affiliation.

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Electoral College

• When you vote for President, youre actually
  voting for a slate of electors.
• Each states electors gather in their own state
  capital to cast their votes for President and
  Vice President (December 15, 2008).
• Congress meets in joint session to count the
  electoral votes January 6, 2009.

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Electoral College Defined in the Constitution

• Article II, section 1
• The executive Power shall be vested in a
  President of the United States of America. He
  shall hold his Office during the Term of four
  Years, and, together with the Vice President,
  chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
• Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the
  Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of
  Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators
  and Representatives to which the State may be
  entitled in the Congress.

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Why the Electoral College was Established

• People were widely dispersed with limited
  transportation and communication.
• Suspicion that people could not be trusted to
  vote wisely.
• Fear that direct elections would cause long
  delays in electing the president.
• To reconcile differences between state and
  federal interests give less populous states
  additional leverage by not apportioning electoral
  votes in strict proportion to state population
  and preserve the independence of the presidency
  from the Congress.

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• There are total of 535 Electoral from states and
  3 from DC.
• 270 Electors required to win the presidency.

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States and the E.C.

• Each state is awarded electors equal to their
  number of US Senators plus their number of US
  Representatives.
• Massachusetts has 12 electors.
• Maine and Nebraska are the only states that dont
  use the winner-take-all system for awarding
  votes

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Electoral Votes by State
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Faithless Electors

• The Constitution did not bind Electors to vote
  for the candidates to whom they were pledged.
• Now most states have laws that bind electors in
  some way.
• Massachusetts law requires electors to sign a
  form pledging they will vote for their partys
  candidates.
• Electors have broken their pledge on several
  occasions. It has never changed the outcome of an
  election. They are called Faithless Electors.

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The Presidential Selection Process

• League of Women Voters of MA
• Citizen Education Fund
• 133 Portland Street
• Boston, Massachusetts 02114
• 617.523.2999 800.882.1649
• www.votinginfo.info