The Electoral Process

The Nominating Process for President (by State)

• (naming people for office)• 1.) Self-announcement – person announces

publicly that they will run• 2.) Caucus* – a group of people who think

alike who come together to nominate someone

• 3.) Convention – members of a party meet to select delegates to later choose a nominee

• 4.) Primary* – election within a party for candidates– Closed primary – only members of the

party can vote– Open primary – anyone can vote

5.) Petition – voters sign petitions to select a candidate

Each state has a primary or a caucus where people vote for one candidate for a political party

• (ex: Bob, Bubba, and Steve are all presidential candidates from the Democratic Party--but there can only be ONE)

• Whichever candidate wins the most votes in a state gets the most delegates– Winner-take-all: Candidate with the most

votes gets all the state’s delegates– Proportional Representation: The number

of delegates depends on the percentage of votes for a candidate

Winning Delegates

• Delegates are people from a political party who vote for a candidate at their party’s National Convention

-The bigger the state, the more delegates it has

The National Convention

• Each party has a National Convention where they elect their presidential candidate

• Here the delegates vote for ONE candidate to run on their party’s ticket

The Electoral College

• The presidential election is not won by popular votes, but by electoral votes

• Voters in each state choose electors to serve in the Electoral College

#Electoral Votes in a State = # in Reps. In House of Representatives + # of Senators)

Tennessee has 11 Electoral Votes because we have 9 Representatives + 2 Senators

• Each elector promises to vote for a certain presidential candidate– So when you vote for Obama/Biden, you’re really voting

for the Elector who has promised to vote for Obama/Biden in the Electoral College

• The presidential candidate who gets the most votes in a state gets ALL* the state’s electoral votes -->YOU NEED 270 (out of 538) ELECTORAL VOTES TO WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

• After the election, the electors meet in their state capitals to vote for the presidential candidate and make it official

• Electors should vote the way their state voted

Campaign Financing

• Running for office costs A LOT of money– About $1 million to run for a House seat– Up tp $20 million to run for a Senate seat– In 2012, each presidential candidate spent

over $1 billion in their campaigns

Where Do Candidates Get Their Campaign Money?

• Small private donations ($5, $10, etc.)• Wealthy private donors (no more than $2,500

to a candidate)• PACs and Super PACs• Gov’t subsidies (grants)• Fundraising organizations• A candidate’s own money

Political Action Committees (PACs)

• Groups of people who want to influence gov’t decisions by spending money on candidates’ campaigns (“you owe me”)

• PACs can only give up to $5,000 to any one candidate

• Super PACs are backed by corporations and can spend unlimited $ (but can’t work directly with candidate’s campaign)

• Hard money - given directly to candidates

• Soft money - given to political parties (now banned)

QUIZ

• Suffrage• Electorate• Political socialization• Political efficacy• Literacy test• referendum

• Straight ticket voting• Poll tax• Split ticket voting• Gerrymandering• Independents• recall