Elections in the United States

Quiz Define political socialization Describe the role of education in political

participation Define political party What is the number one influence on people’s

political ideology? What is the importance of third parties? List 2 reasons for low voter turnout/participation. Name the three types of polls.

Purpose of Elections Founders called it Popular Sovereignty

Political Power is derived from the consent of the governed

Elections fill public offices and staff the government

Elections also hold the Government accountable to the public

Types of Elections Presidential Elections (General)

Primaries Congressional Elections Mid-term Elections

“Referendum on the President”

State and Local Imitative, Referendum, and Recall

Presidential Elections Primary Elections

Voters decide which of the Candidates within a party will represent the party’s ticket in the General Elections

Types of Primaries

Closed Only a registered party member is allowed to vote (FLA,

LA, NY, CA) Open

Any member of the Electorate can vote in either primary (GA, AL, TX, VA)

Crossover voting does occur frequently in Open Primaries There is little evidence to support “raiding” of primaries

Runoff Second Primary election between the top 2 vote getters

LA is a little strange

Primaries Scheduling

Critics argue unfair scheduling of Primaries affects their outcomes Take New Hampshire. Who really cares what the

think? But because they are the first primary in our nation some say they get way too much media coverage and affect the opinions of the electorate in more populous states that hold their primaries later

Leads to Front Loading Front Loading- the tendency of states to chose

an early date on the primary calendar Parties have finally said enough is enough and

have taken delegates out of states who continue to move up their primaries Ex. Michigan

Super Tuesday- In 1988 14 southern states began Super Tuesday to maximize the South’s influence on Presidential Politics

Differences in Primaries Republican

Winner Take All Primaries Democratic

Proportional Primaries

Super Delegates Voters entitled to become delegates to their party’s

nominating convention by virtue of their position in the Government or Party Hierarchy Ensures Party Control for Democrats

Can break a tie Are not pledged to a certain candidate

Party Conventions- Once a Delegate is Chosen…

All the States report the number of delegates voting for a candidate

All the candidates give a brief speech supporting the Nominee

The Party’s nominee gives a speech about how he/she will change the world

News Coverage is extensive which leads to the Convention Bounce

Then the race for the president begins (we will do that Thursday)

Incumbents When incumbents lose it is generally due to:

Redistricting Gerrymandering-attempts to establish a political advantage

for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged district

Scandals Presidential Coattails

Mid Term Elections Off Year elections- In-between presidential

elections Less Participation than a Presidential Election

The president’s party normally loses seats during this election Midterm Elections serve as a REFERENDUM on the

President 2006 Mid Term election Republicans lost 30 seats in

the house and 6 in the Senate giving the Democrats control in Congress

General Election vs. Mid Term Election

38.6% of the electorate voted in the 2006 mid term election

56.8% Turnout for the 2008 election Why is voter turnout higher for the general

election than the midterm elections? Media Coverage (Greater Interest) More Money Spent on Presidential Elections Higher Visibility Perception of Greater Importance of Presidential

Elections Mobilization

Congressional Elections vs. Presidential ElectionsCoattail effect - Presidential popularity effecting

congressional elections in midterm years Congress communicates with their

constituents more directly, often personally, while President relies on media

Congress reps can deny responsibility and blame problems on other reps or President

Initiative, Referendum, Recall Initiative- An election that allows citizens to propose

legislation and submit it to the state electorate for popular vote

Referendum- An election whereby the state legislature submits proposed legislation Good Things- This provides for more Direct Democracy Bad Things- in 1990 California had to provide a 2

volume book explaining all the initiatives on the ballot

Recall Or Deelection

Voters can vote to remove an incumbent from office prior to the next scheduled election

Example?

Quiz A _______ primary is a primary where only

registered members of a party can vote. List 2 purposes of Elections Describe the concept of front loading What is the purpose of a Super delegate?

Electing the President The President is not elected by a Direct Vote

Congress is a direct election The Gubernatorial election is a direct election. The President is elected by the Electoral College

The Electoral College Like most things at Constitution the Electoral

College is a compromise Direct Popular vote and Congress choosing the

President Electors were meant to be men of character with a

solid knowledge of national politics

What is the Electoral College?

It is the constitutional system used to elect the Chief Executive.

Established by Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment (1804).

Each state is assigned a specific number of electors.

When you vote for President, you are actually voting for the group of electors from your state.

When you cast your vote, you are actually voting for the ELECTORS from your state.

The candidate that gets the most votes in your state, gets those electors.

WINNER TAKE ALL SYSTEM!!!!!

If you win a plurality of the votes, you get EVERY VOTE!!!!

TO WIN THE WHITE HOUSE YOU MUST WIN A MAJORITY OF ELECTORAL VOTES

So:

There are 538 Electoral Votes on the map

To win:

538/2=269

A majority is

50% + 1

So to be President you need

270 Electoral Votes

The candidate that wins the popular vote in that state gets all that state’s electoral votes (except for Maine and Nebraska).

To Find the Number of Electoral Votes for a state

Number of Representatives in the House

+

Number of Senators (Always 2)

Total Number of Electors

.

 

While the state electors are "pledged" to vote for the candidate of the party that chose them, nothing in the Constitution requires them to do so. In rare instances, an elector will defect and not vote for his or her party's candidate.

Such "faithless" electors rarely change the outcome of the election and laws of some states prohibit electors from casting them.

 .

Do the electors have to vote for the candidate from their party?

NONO

What procedure is followed for the electors to vote? Answer:

Electors meet in their state capitals on the Monday

following the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes.

The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted to the President of the Senate (same as the VP).

In 2008, this would be Dick Cheney

When do we finally have an official winner?  Answer:

On January 6th, the President of the Senate announces

the winner before both houses of Congress.

Why do we have the Electoral College?

Concerns of Founders

President would use military to overpower states

Would use office to hold power through force and corruption

Protection against the “ignorant masses”

Areas of small population would be ignored

Results

Large states have more say, but small states are guaranteed at least 3 electoral votes