The document discusses the nomination process for political candidates in the United States. It outlines the main methods of nomination: self-announcement, caucuses, conventions, direct primaries, and petitions. It provides details on each method, including how they work, examples, advantages, and disadvantages. It also discusses the general election process and timeline for selecting final candidates.

2. PP. 184-192

3.  Nomination—Naming
of those who will
seek office
 Those who make
nominations place
limits on the choices
voters can make
 General election—
regularly scheduled
elections at which
voters make final
selections

4.  1. Self-announcement
 2. Caucus
 3. Convention
 4. Direct primary
 5. Petition
 *See p. 186 for a description of each

5.  Self-explanatory
 Often someone who failed to win a
nomination or someone unhappy w/
party’s choice
 Whenever a write-in candidate appears
in an election, the self-announcement
process has been used
 Example: Ross Perot in 1992

7.  Caucus—a group of like-minded people
who meet to select candidates they will
support in upcoming elections
 Once used at state level (legislative
caucus) & national level (congressional
caucus)
 Still used today to make local
nominations, esp. in New England
• Open to all members of a party

8.  1st
major electoral
event of the
nominating process
for presidential
election since ‘72
 High-level of media
attention
 Early indicator of who
might win nomination
from each party

9.  Caucus system was replaced by the
convention
• Andrew Jackson went after “King Caucus”
 Became popular in the 1830s & 1840s
 Local, county, state, national
• In theory, the will of the party’s rank & file members
is passed along through each level
 Political bosses manipulated system in late
19th
century
• Replaced by direct primaries in most states by 1910
 Still part of nominating process in CT, MI,
SD, UT,VA

10.  Direct primary—an intraparty election;
held w/in a party to pick that party’s
candidates for general election
 Wisconsin was 1st
state w/ direct primary
(1903)
 They are party-nominating elections, but
closely regulated by state governments
 Two types: open and closed

11.  Used by about half of the states,
including Nebraska
 Only declared party members can vote
 Voter can vote in only one party’s
primary
 Some states allow voters to change party
registration on election day, those states
are not as completely “closed” as others

12.  AKA the crossover primary
 Any qualified voter can cast a ballot
 Only vote for one party

13.  AKA wide-open primary
 Every voter received the same ballot
 Every candidate was listed regardless of
party
 Candidates could vote for one or both
parties
 Banned by SC in 2000—now a thing of the
past
 Some states use a similar system; “top-
two” (LA,WA)

14.  Those who favor the closed primaries:
• 1. Prevents one party from “raiding” the other;
results will be “true”
• 2. Makes candidates more responsive to the party, its
platform, & its members
 Those who oppose closed primaries:
• 1. Forces voters to make their party affiliations
known in order to vote
• 2.Tends to exclude independents
** See map on p. 193

15.  In most states candidates need to win
only a plurality in their primary in order
to win
 In 8 states a majority is needed to win a
primary
 If no one wins a majority in those states a
runoff is run a few weeks later
• The winner is the party’s nominee

16.  In most city level & school-related
elections the candidates are not
identified with a party label
 The Nebraska unicameral is
“nonpartisan”
 Judges often do not identify with a party
 Some argue that the primary is not well-
suited for non-partisan elections

17.  Offshoot of direct primary; not a
nominating device; can be one of two
things or both
• 1. Process in which voters elect some or all of a
state party organization’s delegates to that
party’s national convention
• 2. It is a preference election in which voters can
choose among contenders for the grand prize,
the party’s presidential nomination

19. THE GOOD THE BAD
 Gives rank & file members
a bigger say in nominations
 Increased transparency
 Low voter turnout
 Can be costly to taxpayers
& candidates
 Can be divisive w/in a
party

23.  Candidates are
nominated by
petitions signed by
qualified voters
 Mostly at local level
 Often required for
minority party
candidates &
independents
 Difficult for those
candidates to get on
the ballot

24. PP. 193-199

25.  Elections must be free, honest, & accurate
in order to uphold democracy
 500K+ in elective offices
 89K+ units of government
 Most election law is state, not federal law

26.  Constitution gives Congress the power to
fix “the Times, Places, and Manner of
holding Elections” of members of
Congress.
 Election day=1st
Tuesday following the 1st
Monday in November of every even-
numbered year
 Example=November 6, 2012 or
November 8, 2016

27.  Congress has required secret ballots,
allowed the use of voting machines, &
acted to protect the right to vote (chapter
6, discussed this previously)

28.  Problems during the election of 2000:
 “hanging chads,” lawsuits, recounts, oh
my!
 2000ElectionProblems.pdf

32.  America Vote Act of 2002, the law
requires states to:
• 1. Replace all lever-operated and punch-card
voting devices by 2006 (some states failed to
meet this requirement)
• 2. Upgrade administration of elections, better
training
• 3. Centralize & computerize voter registration
systems
• 4. Provide provisional voting, so someone whose
eligibility to vote has been questioned can still
vote

33.  Most states use same day as national
elections
• “Tuesday after the first Monday” in November
 Some states hold elections in odd years
 Local elections vary
• City Council vote in Lincoln on May 7th
, 2013

34.  32 million casted votes before election
day in 2008, roughly 30%
 Every state has provisions for absentee
voting
 Most states (including NE) now have
early voting

36.  A strong candidate at the top of the ballot
attracts voters to other candidates on the
party’s ticket
 Lesser-known office seekers ride the
coattails of prestigious personalities like
FDR, Reagan, Clinton
 Reverse coattail effect can happen too
 For this reason, some argue that local &
state elections should be on a different
day than federal elections

37.  Precinct=voting district
 Smallest geographic unit when
conducting elections
 Usually no more than 500 to 1,000 voters
 Polling place=place where voters
actually vote
 Polls are open from 8 AM to 8 PM in NE
 Poll watchers make sure that only
qualified voters are voting

38.  Every state has secret ballots
 Public process in past, viva voice
• Much corruption
 Political machines=local party
organizations capable of mobilizing or
“manufacturing” large numbers of votes
• Led by “bosses”

39.  Used by nearly all states by 1900
 1. Printed at public expense
 2. Lists the names of all candidates
 3. Given out only at the polls
 4. Can be marked in secret
 *See examples on p. 197 of text

40.  Available in most states prior to elections
 Some states mail them to all voters
 Often appear in newspapers

41.  Ballot in typical American election is
lengthy
 So many offices, candidates, and
measures that few voters can mark it
intelligently
 Critics reject the notion that the more
people you elect, the more democratic
that system
 “Ballot fatigue”

42.  Over ½ of votes cast in national elections
are cast on some type of voting machine
 Old voting machines were controlled by
pulling levers
 Then punch-card machines became more
common
 “Hanging Chads” & fiasco of 2000
election led to end of punch-cards

43.  Optical-scanning technology, similar to
Scantron used on tests
 Also, touch-screen machines that record
choices electronically

44.  1st
used in CA in 1977
 Mostly used for local elections
 Oregon now holds ALL of its elections by
mail
 Critics say it threatens the secret ballot
principle
 On the other hand, it has increased voter
turnout

45.  Is e-voting the wave of the future?
 What about those unable to afford
computers?
 Positives: likely to increase turnout & will
reduce costs

46. PP. 201-208

47.  $6-7 billion in total spending for 2012
elections
 $2-3 billion in 2008
 *See campaign spending chart on p. 202
 A seat in the House of Reps will cost a
candidate $1 million +
 Radio & TV time, managers, consultants,
newspaper ads, pamphlets, buttons, posters,
stickers, office space, polls, data processing,
mass mailings, web sites, travel, etc.

48.  1. Small contributors
 2.Wealthy individuals & families
 3. Candidates themselves
 4. PACs & other non-party groups
 5.Temporary organizations
 Increasingly dependent on internet
 *Super-PACs

49.  Hard Money=contributions given directly
to candidates for campaigns
 Soft Money=funds given to parties or
other political organizations

50.  (FEC)
 Regulates campaign financing at federal
level
 Est. by Congress in 1974 after Watergate
scandal
 Historically the FEC has been under-
funded & under-staffed, leading to weak
enforcement of regulations

51.  SC ruled that gov’t cannot restrict
spending of corporations, unions & other
campaign groups
 1st
Amendment right to support the
candidate they choose
 Opened floodgates for unlimited
amounts of money in political campaigns
 Cannot contribute directly to a candidate,
but can run favorable or unfavorable ads
about candidates

52.  2012 Super PACs & Spending Amounts

53.  No individual could give more than
$2,500/election to a candidate or no
more than $5,00/year
 PACs could give no more than
$5,000/election to a candidate or no
more than $10,000/year

54.  Stephen Colbert announces his super PAC