Understanding the Process

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Parties, Primaries, Caucuses & ConventionsNameKeysKsvnChambersIt's almost election time and candidates are throwing their hatsin the ring left and right, beginning campaigns to be the nextpresident of the United States. It's a tough job to step into., andmany feel they ve got what it takes to do it the best. So howdo we go from a pool of potentials to two main candidates—anominee for each major party—whose names make it to thefinal ballot? The answer is in everything that happens before theactual election. Enter theprimary,thecaucus,and theconvention.I t s Party TimeTheUnited States has aparty systemwhere the two major politicalparties—DemocraticandRepublican—campaign for and hold themajority of elected offices acrossthecountry. Apolitical partyis anorganized group of people who share similar political views about howgovernment should run and how societal problems should he solved.They workto influence the government in support of those views.People join political parties as a way to move the government towardsfollowing their political views. Why? Because more people meansmore strength. Political parties gain power whentheircandidates areelected to public office. The more officials they have voting in favor ofand working towards similar outcomesrthe more likely the country isto be shaped according to their views.The More the MerrierThe Democratic and Republican parties aren t the onlyparties in the United States. There are manyminor parties(orthird parties),such as the Libertarian Party, GreenParty, Reform Party, and Constitution Party, that sponsorpresidential candidates, too.Even though third partieshaven'tproducedapresidentialelection win, they have influenced the outcome ofpresidential elections on many occasions. For example,when Teddy Roosevelt created the Progressive Partyin 1912, he took enough votes away from Republicancandidate William Howard Taft that the Democraticcandidate Woodrow Wilson won the election. (Rooseveltcame i n second place!)Third parties often bring attention to issues that the major partiesignore. I n the past, these were issues like the abolition of slavery, childlabor, and the 4D-hour workweek. Today, it's issues like climate changeandlimitations on the governments influence on people's lives. Butthirdpartiesarekept offthe"main stage" due to rules that favor theDemocratic and Republican parties only. These rules include the 'winner-take-all" nature of the Electoral College and the complicated staterequirements to get on the presidential ballot. To top it all off, manypeople are told they are "throwing away’ their vote if they choose a thirdparty candidate who doesn't have a chance to win.One o f themajor third parties inthe U S is the libertarian Party,whose mascot is a porcupine.iiviesC 202D IQvfcs, Ire.Reading - Side A

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Parties, Primaries, Caucuses & ConventionsName:ChambersAnd the Nominee Is...Running for president takes a lot of work before the election evenbegins, Thats because to be a major contender, you have to winyour party's nomination first. Anominationis each party's formalchoice of who their official presidential candidate will be. Each partyholds a convention in the summer before the election to determinetheir nominee and that's how two names get on the ballot. Thenationalconventionisameeting of delegates of a political party tochoose candidates for elected office.But before Republicans and Democrats go head to head in the bigor general election,RepublicansandRepublicans and Democratsand Democrats duke it out first. Only one candidate can be theirparty's nominee and take the official spot on the ballot. And guesswhat? The Constitution doesn't have any rules for how this part ofthe election process or the nominations have to run. States andpolitical parties made it up along the way. Here's how it's done.Primarily SpeakingBefore the presidential election and before the convention, eachstate lets the people vote on the pool of potential candidates.Think of this as a way of 'narrowing the field." States held eithera primary election(generally just referred to as aprimary)or a caucusto select the candidate that the state wishes tonominate for each party in the national election. Parties hold theirprimary or caucus separately, starting in February of an electionyear through the summer. And candidates campaign way beforethat to gain the name recognition and support they need to win.The results determine three things: 1) the state's preference byparty for a nominee; 2 ) how many delegates the state will sendto the convention; 3 ) and who those delegates will vote for.I m going t ob e the partyWhy Do We Have Primaries Anyway?Primaries were originally developed to take power away from whatwas seen as a corrupt system where the political parties used arigged process to choose political candidates. Candidates werehand-picked by party "bosses," often as a result of bribes and anagreement to do whatever was asked of them once elected. Sounddemocratic? No. Bribery and threats to obtain votes were alsocommon—the "bosses' used jobs, housing, food, heat, and policeprotection to convince voters to vote for their candidate. Votingfraud, such as voting more than once or in multiple places, wascommon, too. Progressive Era reforms in the 1890s through the1920s, such as the use of primary elections andsecret ballots(a way to vote where no one but the voter knows their selections)gave the voters more power to choose who they wanted to run thegovernment. After all, shouldn't the people themselves be the onesresponsible for narrowing the field of nominees?Reading - Side BIivies■E 2DODIQvIcs, Ire.

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Name:Keystawn ChambersParties, Primaries, Caucuses & ConventionsPrimaries vs. CaucusesPrimary elections are a d m i n i s t e r e d b y state governments,, m a k i n g t h e m veryaffordable f o r t h e political p a r t i e s , b u t q u i t e expensive overall. V o t e r s g o t o t h epolls and cast t h e i r ballots similarly t o h o w t h e y w o u l d i n any o t h e r election.Caucuses, o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , a r e c o n d u c t e d b y t h e state p a r t y organizations.T h e y are part o f t h e p r i m a r y season, b u t t h e y ' r e n o t r u n like y o u r typical election.A caucus i s a m e e t i n g w h e r e party leaders a n d s u p p o r t e r s select candidatest h r o u g h discussions a n d consensus. T h e y a r e relatively inexpensive f o r parties t or u n because t h e y a r e usually held i n a public location such as a school, library,o r c h u r c h , a n d because there's little n e e d for specialized e q u i p m e n t l i k e b a l l o t s ,v o t i n g b o o t h s , and electronic c o u n t i n g m a c h i n e s .Just to Make it More Complicated...T h e r e a r e a n u m b e r o f d i f f e r e n t types o f primariesa n d t w o d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f caucuses. Each t y p ediffers based u p o n w h e t h e r o r n o t v o t e r s w h oa r e unaffiliated w i t h t h e p a r t y a r e allowedt o participate.OpenOnce in the votingbooth, any registeredvoter can mark: theirchoicesinonepartys section on amultiparty ballotCan We Caucus Over Here?S u r e t h i n g , b u t each party d o e s i tdifferently. Caucus- goers for t h eD e m o c r a t i c party b r e a k into g r o u p st h a t s u p p o r t o n e specific candidate { o rchoose t o b e u n d e c i d e d ) a n d a c o u n tis t a k e n . A n y candidate's g r o u p t h a tdoesn’t h a v e a t l e a s t 1 5 % o f t h e t o t a ln u m b e r o f caucus-goers disbands, a n dt h o s e supporters [ a n d t h e u n d e c i d e d s ) arec o u r t e d by t h e o t h e r candidates t o j o i n . T h i sk e e p s u p u n t i l t h e g r o u p s a r e settled. T h e n t h edelegates are d i s t r i b u t e d p r o p o r t i o n a l l y t o eachcandidate w h o is l e f t s t a n d i n g .Semi-ClosedRegister? d party membersvote using their party sballot Unaffiliatedvoters may participateby choosing onepartys baiiotSemi-OpenAny registered votermust dedare whichpartys ballot they wantbefore entering thevoting booth.ClosedRetpstered party member□may vote using their ownpartys ballotUhaffiliated votersare not allowed t ocast a ballotRepublican caucus-goers v o t e b y s e c r e t ballot. It m a y s o u n d a l o t likes.ap r i m a r y , b u t candidates o r t h e i r representatives usually addresst h e v o t e r s first before t h e y a r e allowed t o v o t e .\Caucuses are l o u d , involve a g r e a t d e a l of listening a n d\s o m e t i m e s d e a l - m a k i n g , a n d g e n e r a l l y t a k e a considerable'.a m o u n t o f t i m e t o c o m p l e t e .1 T h e y ' r e h e l d a t specific times,.a n d i f a v o t e r can't m a k e it, t h e n/h e o r s h e i s o u t o f l u c k . Very few/states v o t e b y caucus a n d preferprimaries instead s i n c e t h e r e i su s u a l l y a l o n g e r w i n d o w o f v o t i n gt i m e a n d m o r e p e o p l e can p a r t i c i p a t e .OpenAny registered voter, regardess of'party affiliation, can participate in thecaucusmeeting.C j c A U c O s :ClosedRegistered voters can only participate<if they are registered\members of that party.II V I C SReading - Side C

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