The Electoral Process

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The Electoral Process
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Nominations

• The nomination stage is critically important in
  the American electoral process.
• Why?

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Nominations

• The nomination process limits the choices voters
  have in an election.

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How Are Candidates Nominated for Office?

• Self announcement
• Caucus meeting of like-minded people to decide
  which candidates to support
• Convention meeting of delegates
  (representatives of a political party) to decide
  which candidates to support

• Direct Primary voters choose candidates
• Petition people sign petitions to have a
  candidates name placed on the ballot

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A Note on Primaries

• Remember that the purpose of a primary is to help
  a political party narrow its list of candidates
  not to provide a wide open general election in
  which people can vote for whomever they prefer

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Types of Direct Primaries

• Closed primary Only party members can vote
• Open primary Any qualified voter can vote
• Runoff primary Held after a first primary if no
  one wins a majority

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The Presidential Primary

• Process by which partys voters choose delegates
  to that partys national convention
• Preference election in which voters indicate who
  they favor for President

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The Ballot

• 1700s - Voice vote
• 1800s - Paper ballot
• 1900 - Australian ballot
• printed at taxpayers expense
• lists all candidates
• available only at the polls
• secret

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Elections

• General elections are held on the first Tuesday
  after the first Monday in November of every
  even-numbered year
• Precinct voting district
• Polling place where people in a precinct
  actually vote
• Supervised by precinct election boards

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The Electoral College

• The Electoral College was established as a
  compromise between those who favored direct
  election of the President by the people, and
  those who favored election by the Congress.

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How the Electoral College Works

• Political parties choose a group of Electors
  expected to support their candidate (In 24
  states, electors are NOT legally bound)
• Your vote actually selects Electors who cast
  electoral votes
• Each state has as many Electors as it has members
  of Congress (Senators plus Representatives)

• D.C has 3 electoral votes as a result of the 23rd
  Amendment.
• The candidate with the most votes in a state
  receives ALL of that states electoral votes
  (Exceptions ME and NE, Colorado pending)
• Electors meet in their state capitals in early
  December to cast their ballots

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How the Electoral College Works

• Ballots are opened and counted in D.C. by the
  President of the Senate (VP) on January 6
• A majority (270) of electoral votes are needed to
  win
• If no candidate has a majority, the House of
  Representatives decides the winner

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Election 2000 Controversy
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Bush vs. Gore

• December 13, 2000 U.S. Supreme Court overturned
  a Florida Supreme Court decision ordering a
  manual recount of 170,000 disputed Florida
  ballots.
• Gore concedes, Bush declared winner.
• Decenting Opinions http//teenadvice.about.com/l
  ibrary/bl/blwhygorelostf.htm

http//americanhistory.si.edu/vote/florida.html
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