American The Electoral Process Government Based on Notes from Itutor.com

What is an Election? Definition- – the selection of a person or persons for office by vote Why hold an election? – Elections make those in power both legitimate and accountable Legitimate means that they hold office/power because they have the support of the majority of the people Accountable means that those in power know that they can be voted out of their position in the next election if they fail to adequately serve the people

The Nominating Process First Step  In the United States, the election process occurs in two steps: 1. Nomination, in which the field of candidates is narrowed. 2. General election, the regularly scheduled election where voters make the final choice of officeholder. Nominating and Electing a Candidate © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Three Ways to Nominate  Self-Announcement – A person who wants to run for office announces their candidacy. Whenever a write-in candidate appears on the ballot, the self-announcement process has been used.  The Caucus – Originally a private meeting of local bigwigs, the caucus as a nominating device fell out of favor in the 1820s. Still used in a few states today such as Iowa.  The Convention – Considered more democratic than the caucus, convention delegates were selected to represent the people’s wishes. Party bosses soon found ways to manipulate the system, however, and the convention system was on its way out by the early 1900s. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

The Direct Primary Nonpartisan Primary Candidates are not identified by party labels Nonpartisan Primary Candidates are not identified by party labels Runoff Primary If a required majority is not met, the two people with the most votes run again Runoff Primary If a required majority is not met, the two people with the most votes run again Closed Primary Only declared party members can vote. Types of Direct Primaries Open Primary Any qualified voter can take part. Open Primary Any qualified voter can take part. Blanket Primary Qualified voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of party © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Petition  Candidates must gather a required number of voters’ signatures to get on the ballot by means of petition.  Minor party and independent candidates are usually required by State law to be nominated by petition.  Petition is often used at the local level to nominate for school posts and municipal offices. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Elections The Administration of Elections  Elections are primarily regulated by State law, but there are some overreaching federal regulations  Congress has the power to set the time, place, and manner of congressional and presidential elections. Congress has chosen the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even-numbered year for congressional elections, with the presidential election being held the same day every fourth year.  States determine the details of the election of thousands of State and local officials.  Most States provide for absentee voting, for voters who are unable to get to their regular polling places on election day. Some States within the last few years have started to allow voting a few days before election day to increase voter participation. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Polling Places  Polling Places  A polling place is where the voters who live in a precinct go to vote.  It is located in or near each precinct (Local voting district). Polling places are supposed to be located conveniently for voters. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Casting the Ballot  The History  Voting was initially done orally. It was considered “manly” to speak out your vote without fear of reprisal.  Paper ballots began to be used in the mid-1800s. At first, people provided their own ballots. Then, political machines began to take advantage of the flexibility of the process to intimidate, buy, or manufacture votes.  In the late 1800s, ballot reforms cleaned up ballot fraud by supplying standardized, accurate ballots and mandating that voting be secret. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Office-Group and Party-Column Ballots © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Voting Machines and Innovations  Electronic vote counting has been in use since the 1960s. Punch-card ballots are often used to cast votes.  Vote-by-mail elections have come into use in recent years – Absentee Balloting  Online voting is a trend that may be encountered in the near future.  Voter ID – Some states have now introduced laws requiring citizens to show a government issued identification in order to cast their ballot. NH is one of the states that will be implementing this for the first time in the 2016 election cycle. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Money and Elections Small contributors Wealthy supporters Nonparty groups such as PACs Temporary fund-raising organization s Candidates Government subsidies Private and Public Sources of Campaign Money Sources of Funding © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Why do people give?  There are many reasons people make donations to political campaigns….  They believe in a party or candidate  They want something in return  Appointment to public office or keep the appointment they have  Public recognition  Dinner/photo session at the White House  They want access to government  Influence policy, get laws passed, changed, or repealed © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Regulating Campaign Financing  Early campaign regulations were created in 1907, but feebly enforced.  The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 was passed to replace the former, ineffective legislation. The Federal Election Commission  The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces:  Laws specific to election practices and financial contributions.  Challenges: Recent laws and court decisions have dramatically changed the rules around who can donate money and how much – for the most part, these changes have reduced restrictions on donation amounts and donors which has led to a massive increase in spending during the election cycle.  PACs, Super PACs, 501(c)4s © iTutor All Rights Reserved

The FEC regulates PACs  PAC – Political Action Committees  Help candidates sympathetic to their cause  Corporations and Labor unions cannot donate to candidates running for federal office. – “Segregated fund committees" are political arms of special interest groups. They can only raise money from their members. Unconnected Committees are independent organizations – They can raise money from the public Can donate up to $10,000 to any one candidate in an election cycle (primary and general elections) $15,000 to any political party in a year © iTutor All Rights Reserved

 Super PACs are a new kind of political action committee created in July 2010  Technically known as independent expenditure- only committees, Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, then spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates. Super PACs must, however, report their donors to the Federal Election Commission on a monthly or quarterly basis -- the Super PAC's choice -- as a traditional PAC would. Unlike traditional PACs, Super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates. © iTutor All Rights Reserved

Loopholes in the Law “More loophole than law…” —Lyndon Johnson  Soft money —money given to State and local party organizations for “party-building activities” that is filtered to presidential or congressional campaigns. $500 million was given to campaigns in this way in  Independent campaign spending —a person unrelated and unconnected to a candidate or party can spend as much money as they want to benefit or work against candidates.  Issue ads —take a stand on certain issues in order to criticize or support a certain candidate without actually mentioning that person’s name. © iTutor All Rights Reserved