Voting - Nominating Ch 7 Sec 1

Nomination O Selecting a candidate for office O First step in an election

Methods of nominating O Self-announcement O Petition O Caucus O Convention O Direct primary

Self-announcement O A person declares him to herself to be a candidate

Petition O A candidate gets a certain number of qualified voters to sign a petition

Convention O A political party’s members meet to select candidates

Direct Primary O An election held within a party to pick its candidates

Closed Primary O A primary election in which only registered party members may vote

Open Primary O A primary election in which any registered voter may vote

Elections Procedures (Sec 2)

Elections – governed by state law O Aspects of national elections such as dates are governed by federal law O National elections are the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years O Absentee voting is usually allowed if unable to get to regular polling places

O Voting takes place in voting districts called precincts O Within the precincts, voters cast their votes at polling places O A ballot is used to register a person’s vote

Australian Ballot O Most states use a form of the Australian ballot - either an office-group ballot or a party column ballot

Money and Elections (Sec 3) O Parties and their candidates get money from two basic sources: private and PACs

Private O Individuals O Families O Candidates themselves

Political Action Committees O The political arm of special-interest groups O All campaign money from a special-interest group has to go through its PAC

Soft and hard money O Soft – money given to State and local party organizations for such “party-building activities” as voter registration or party mailings and advertisements O Hard – money given to a campaign that is subject to reporting requirement and in limited amounts O 2012 Presidential Money 2012 Presidential Money O h_donor.php h_donor.php