1. HOW ELECTIONS WORK IN THE UNITED STATES
ELECTORAL PROCESS
HOW ELECTIONS WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

2. STEP ONE: NOMINATION
The first step in the electoral process is to nominate a candidate
There are a variety of ways to do this
1. Self-nomination-Very simple a person says that they will run for public office
2. Caucus- this is a nominating method open to all members of a political party (like a big town hall meeting)

3. MORE METHODS FOR NOMINATION
3. Conventions are used more at a national level to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates
4. Primary-there are 2 types of primaries--a closed primary is a preliminary election that only declared members of the party can vote
An open primary allows any qualified voter to vote
Petition is the last method for nomination--a certain number of voters must sign a paper to allow that person to run for office
Open vs. Closed primaries--many arguments for and against each
Many believe closed primaries prevent “party raiding”
Many also believe that closed excludes independent voters (there are more and more of these today)

4. THE ACTUAL ELECTIONS
General Elections are held of the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November
You vote at polling places in your precinct (ballot)
If you can’t make it to the polling place you can request and absentee ballot

5. NEW VOTING METHODS
Many states use electronic data processing to count votes (doesn’t always work Florida 2000)
Online voting has become a recent issue
Many soldiers in Iraq wanted to use this in 2004
Many worry about its security

6. ELECTIONS AND MONEY
It costs a lot to run a campaign today (2004 between Bush and Kerry over $6,000,000,000)
Need time on T.V., radio, travel, hire staff
Campaign spending goes up every year (2008 is expected to be as high as 8 billion)

7. WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM
Regular everyday people give money
These can range from $5-as much as someone wants to give
Candidates also use their own money
PAC’s donate-they represent interest groups
There have been limits placed on these groups

8. MORE MONEY
Candidates also hold dinners where they speak and charge money (Ross Perot $62 million)
The federal government also subsidies elections
There is a ton of money thrown at candidates each year and many people are worried about candidates impartiality

9. ELECTION FINANCE REFORM
Federal government created the Federal Election Campaign Act to regulate donations
The Federal Election Commission does 4 things:
1. Require disclosure of campaign contributions

10. CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
2. Place limits on campaign contributions
3. Limit campaign spending
4. Provide candidates with federal funding
The idea behind this is to make candidates responsive to voters and not wealthy individuals or corporations

11. ARE THE LAWS INEFFECTIVE
Soft money goes to the political party (why might that be a problem)
Hard money is subject to FEC laws
You can spend as much as you want on ads without giving the money to a candidate
You can spend money to do things like rent office space, let candidates borrow things (planes), or simply pay your own staff to make phone calls for a candidate