ELECTIONS

4 WAYS TO NOMINATE CANDIDATES

4 Ways to Nominate Self-Announcement – candidate announces they will run for office. It is the oldest form of nomination, and usually occurs at the local level. (Possibly lost the nomination or are unhappy with the party.) Write - in Petition – If a candidate gets enough signatures from registered voters, they may be put on a ballot. (local Gov., School Boards, Independents)

4 Ways to Nominate Caucus-Convention - The party’s voters meet in local caucuses (meetings) where they choose delegates to a local or district convention, where delegates to the State convention are picked. Delegates: are the electoral bodies in parties who select the party’s candidate for president. (Dem=4,047 / Rep = 2,380) At the State or District level, delegates for the National Convention are chosen. (Historically empowered Political Machines-corruption)

4 Ways to Nominate Direct Primary – an election within a party for candidates to run in the general election (actual office). Open Primaries are open to any registered voter of any party to choose a party’s Nomination (26 states). A Closed Primary only allows voters within a party to vote for nominations. A Runoff Primary occurs when the two candidates with the most votes, but not a majority, run again.

Ballots/Voting The States are responsible for voting. People vote at a polling place (house, school, etc.) inside a precinct – smallest voting district inside states.

Wards vs. Precincts

Ballots/Voting Viva Voce: voice voting. Earliest form. Intimidation Paper ballots: paper slips that were placed in ballot boxes. Different color. Political Machines manipulated, and intimidated. Australian Ballot: printed at public expense, names all candidates, given at the polls (polling place) to one qualified voter, and marked in secret.

Ballots/Voting 4. Office Group Ballot: candidates for all offices are grouped together regardless of party affiliation. (split ticket voting – bipartisan) p.191 5. Party-Column Ballot: Candidates are listed under a column under the party’s name. (straight ticket voting – partisan) p.191

Ballots/Voting

Ballots/Voting 6. Absentee voting: voting without going to a polling place on Election Day. Ballots are sent to the election office usually by mail, before the election.

Donating The maximum personal donation for a Federal Candidate is $101,400 per election cycle. (2 years) 1 Loophole (there are more) A person not connected to the party or a candidate, may donate as much money as they want!

2 TYPES OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: 1. PRIMARY 2. GENERAL

1. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES Depending on the State, a presidential primary is an election within a party, where voters (1) Choose some or all of a State’s party organization’s delegates to their party’s national convention, and/or (2) Express a preference among various contenders for their party’s presidential nomination

1. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES Many States use a proportional representation rule to select delegates (electoral duties). In this system, proportions of a State’s delegates are chosen to match voter preferences in the primary (%). Parties apportion the number of delegates each State will receive based on electoral votes and other factors. (Electoral College)

NATIONAL CONVENTION A party’s national convention is the meeting at which delegates vote to pick their presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The Party National Committee arranges the time and place for their convention. (2016 Dem: Philadelphia P.A., Rep: Cleveland OH.)

NATIONAL CONVENTION

Party Conventions Accomplish 3 main Goals: to officially name the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, to bring the various factions and the leading personalities in the party together in one place for a common purpose, and To adopt the party’s platform—its formal statement of basic principles, stands on major policy matters, and objectives for the campaign and beyond.

2. GENERAL ELECTIONS The 12th amendment allows for states to be responsible for elections. A general election puts/elects a candidate into office. General elections take place every even numbered year (2). Presidential elections are general elections that take place every other election term (4th year). General elections take place on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November: specified by the Constitution (Nov. 8 2016)

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Voters do not vote directly for the President. Instead, they vote for electors in the Electoral College.

WHO ARE THE ELECTORS? Each state gets the same number of electors as it has members in Congress. Ex. Ca. Has 53 reps in House, and 2 Senators = 55. Ca. has 55 electors. (Article II sec.2 of the Constitution) There are a total of 538 electors. Washington D.C. is allotted 3 electors. The popular vote (peoples vote) for president in each state decides the electors. The party with the highest percentage of votes (plurality) wins all the Electoral College seats in the state. WINNER TAKES ALL! If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes (270), the election is thrown into the House of Representatives. (12th Amend.)

2016 Electoral College Map

FLAWS OF THE ELECORAL COLLEGE It is possible to win the popular vote in the presidential election, but lose the Electoral College vote. This has happened four times in U.S. history (1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000). Nothing in the Constitution, or in any federal statute, requires the electors to vote for the candidate favored by the popular vote in their State. (switching votes) If no candidate gains a majority in the Electoral College, the election is sent into the House. In this process: each State is given one vote, meaning that States with smaller populations wield the same power as those with larger populations. (ughh – Great Compromise)

(4) PROPOSED REFORMS In the district plan, electors would be chosen the same way members of Congress are selected. (both parties would have seats, not winner takes all) The proportional plan suggests that each candidate would receive the same share of a State’s electoral vote as he or she received in the State’s popular vote. % Direct popular election. At the polls, voters would vote directly for the President and Vice President instead of electors The national bonus plan would automatically offer the winner of the popular vote 102 electoral votes in addition to the other electoral votes he or she might gain

How to Register to Vote? Online application: www.sos.ca.gov Pick up a voter registration application at a county elections office, library, DMV, or post office. Application must be postmarked 15 days before the election. Qualifications: US citizen, Ca. resident, 18 years old on Election Day, not incarcerated, and not found by a court to be mentally incompetent.