Chapter 9

A Critical 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

The Direct Primary

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

Closed Primary

Only declared

party members can vote.

Types of Direct Primaries

Open Primary

Any qualified voter can take

part.

Blanket Primary

Qualified voters can vote for any

candidate, regardless of

party

Primaries Across the United States

The Administration of Elections

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.

Elections are primarily regulated by State law, but

there are some overreaching federal regulations.

Original Provisions According to the

Constitution, the President and Vice President are chosen by a special body of presidential electors.

Originally, these electors each cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate. The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the candidate with the second highest total would become Vice President.

The 12th Amendment

The 12th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804 following the election of 1800.

The major change in the electoral college made by the amendment was that each elector would distinctly cast one electoral vote for President and one for Vice President.

The Role of Conventions Convention Arrangements

The convention system has been mainly built by the two major parties in American politics.

Party national committees arrange the time and place for their party’s nominating convention.

The Apportionment and Selection of

Delegates

Parties apportion the number of delegates each State will receive based on electoral votes and other factors.

Delegates are selected through both presidential primaries and the caucus-convention process.

Vice Presidential Nominee Chosen to “balance the ticket” or to

offset or compensate for a weakness of the Presidential Candidate

Presidential Primaries Depending on the State, a presidential primary is

an election in which a party’s 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.

Many States use a proportional representation rule to select delegates. In this system, a proportion of a State’s delegates are chosen to match voter preferences in the primary.

More than half of the States hold preference primaries where voters choose their preference for a candidate. Delegates are selected later to match voter preferences.

The Caucus-Convention Process

In those States that do not hold presidential primaries, delegates to the national conventions are chosen in a system of caucuses and conventions.

The party’s voters meet in local caucuses where they choose delegates to a local or district convention, where delegates to the State convention are picked.

At the State level, and sometimes in the district conventions, delegates to the national convention are chosen.

The National Convention

(2) to bring the various factions and the leading personalities in the party together in one place for a common purpose, and

A party’s national convention is the meeting at which delegates vote to pick their presidential and vice-

presidential candidates. Party conventions accomplish three main goals:

(1) to officially name the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates,

(3) to adopt the party’s platform—its formal statement of basic principles, stands on major policy matters, and objectives for the campaign and beyond.

Who Is Nominated?

If an incumbent President wants to seek reelection, his or her nomination is almost guaranteed.

Political experience factors into the nomination process. State governors, the executive officers on the State level, have historically been favored for nomination. U.S. senators also have fared well.

Many candidates come from key larger states. Candidates from larger states, such as California, New York, and Ohio, have usually been seen as more electable than candidates from smaller states.

Nomination by Petition

Candidates have ways to get on the ballot without the grueling Primary election process

Differs from state to state, number of signatures required to get on the ballot

The General Election

Presidential debates begin after the convention

Pivotal in winning elections, influencing public perception

Not always influence the outcome of elections

IF…the nation is prospering THEN most will vote based on appeal(established at debates, and party-Republicans easier access to money and turnout at higher rates in more elections

The Electoral College Today Voters do not vote directly for the

President. Instead, they vote for electors in the electoral college.

On January 6, the electoral votes cast are counted by the president of the Senate, and the President and Vice President are formally elected.

If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes (270), the election is thrown into the House of Representatives.

• All States, except two (Maine and

Nebraska), select electors based

on the winner of the popular vote

in that State.

• Electors then meet in the State

capitols on the Monday after the

second Wednesday in December

and cast their votes for President

and Vice President.

Flaws in the Electoral College

There are three major defects in the electoral college:

(2) Nothing in the Constitution, nor in any federal statute, requires the electors to vote for the candidate favored by the popular vote in their State.

(3) If no candidate gains a majority in the electoral college, the election is thrown into the House, a situation that has happened twice (1800 and 1824). In this process, each State is given one vote, meaning that States with smaller populations wield the same power as those with larger populations.

(1) 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).

Proposed Reforms In the district plan, electors would

be chosen the same way members of Congress are selected: each congressional district would select one elector (just as they select representatives), and two electors would be selected based on the overall popular vote in a State (just as senators are selected).

A commonly heard reform suggests that the electoral college be done away with altogether in favor of direct popular election. At the polls, voters would vote directly for the President and Vice President instead of electors.

• 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.

• 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.

Electoral College Supporters

It is a known process. Each of the proposed, but untried, reforms may very well have defects that could not be known until they appeared in practice.

In most election years, the electoral college defines the winner of the presidential election quickly and certainly.

There are two major strengths of the electoral college that its supporters espouse:

Running for Congress Elections depend on…

1. nature of district 2. are they an incumbent or a challenger 3. strength of personal organization 4. how much $$ they have 5. well known?

Congressional races Most are not close contests Safe seat-an elected office where the

success of the candidate is predetermined by the historic success of one party

Do elections perform their role?

Coattail effect-~The boost that candidates may get in

an election because of the popularity of candidates above them on the ballotErratic and modest but continues to appear

Midterms

President’s Party traditionally loses seats in the House-not so much in Senate.

***In all midterm elections, between 1934 and 1998, party controlling White House lost seats in the House of Reps.

Question is…by how much does House turnover?

In landslide elections-midterm turnover is highest!

Advantages of Incumbents

Since 1970, 95% of incumbents have won re-election to the House

H.R. Incumbents outspent challengers by 3:1

Senate by 1.75:1

Redistricting

Creates open seats Protects incumbents Large shifts, like 1994(Republican

Revolution) unlikely due to gerrymandering by state legislatures

The Senate

Prestigious-6 year term, 1/3 up for election in election cycle

Incumbency is an advantage but not as strong as in the House

Interest groups and parties direct more money to small states where the race is competitive

Why? Less expensive, same value

Campaigns and Money

Reform in three areas: 1. impose limits on giving, receiving

and spending 2. public disclosure of sources and

use of $ 3. giving government subsidies to

presidential candidates, campaigns and parties.

Campaign Spending

Sources of Funding

Small contributors

Wealthy supporters

Nonparty groups such

as PACs

Temporary fund-raising

organizations

Candidates Government subsidies

Private and Public Sources of Campaign Money

Federal Elections Campaign Act

1971-FECA The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces

~limits amounts candidates for federal office could spend on advertising

~disclosure of the sources of campaign funds and how they are spend

~PACs must register with government and disclose contributions and expenditures

PAC-a political action committee-organization that contributes $ to party to influence elections

1974 Amendments to FECA * most sweeping reforms in history

SEE HANDOUT

1971 reforms make it harder to raise money need small amounts from many

So only wealthy raise enough money to win  1974 reforms impose limits on amount an

individual can spend on own campaign, corporations not allowed to give money(soft money) to parties But set up PACS as way around the law.

 

Buckley v. Valeo 1976 says freedom of expression allows individual to contribute unlimited to own campaign

McCain Feingold(Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act 2002) Limits contributions to PACs by corps and unions

Citizens United v FEC says can’t limit contributions to PACs by Unions and Corporations

Matching funds in primary $ for $ if raised from individual donors of not more than $250. Must first raise $5,000 from these types of donors in 20 states.

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 2000.

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.

Results of current laws/decisions

Issue advocacy on rise since 2002 ISSUE ADVOCACY-advertising for an issue

but thinly disguised as electioneering for or against particular candidates

Problem-accountability since not required to disclose amounts or where $ comes from

Independent expenditures-Supreme Court upholds on basis of freedom of speech in 1st Amendment