The Electoral Process

1. The Electoral
Process

2. The Road to the Presidency
• TWO separate elections occur:
1.) Elections (primaries + caucuses) to pick
each party’s candidate
• Members of the same party compete
to be the party’s ONE nominee
• Election occurs February-June of
election year

3. 2.) Election to pick who gets to be
president (general election)
• two party candidates (Democrat vs.
Republican) compete for the ONE
position as president (with third
parties)
• Occurs on 1st Tues. in November of
election year

4. Part I: Nominating the Party
Candidate
Each state has a primary or a caucus
where people vote for one candidate for
a political party (ex: Republican primary
or a Democratic primary)
• Several people from the same party can
compete for the nomination, but in the
end, there can only be ONE candidate
per party

5. • primary - statewide election in which
voters vote for the candidate they like
best from a particular party (can only
vote in ONE)
–Closed primary - only registered
members of a political party can vote
–Open primary - voters choose one
ballot (Republican or Democrat) and
vote for who they think will be the
best presidential candidate
–Most states today have primaries
instead of caucuses

6. • caucus – (instead of a primary)
local elections in townhall settings
where voters choose their preferred
presidential candidate
–In the 2016 election, 13 states
and 3 territories held caucuses

7. Winning Delegates
• Delegates are people from a political party
that a candidate “wins” to go vote for them at
their party’s National Convention
-bigger the state = more delegates assigned by
political parties
-A Democratic candidate needs to win 2,382
delegates to get the Democratic nomination
- A Republican candidate needs to win 1,237
delegates to get the Republican nomination

8. • Whichever candidate wins the most
votes in a state’s primary or caucus gets
the most delegates
TWO POSSIBLE SET-UPS:
– Winner-take-all: Candidate with the most
votes gets ALL the state’s delegates
– Proportional Representation: Candidates
get a percentage of the state’s delegates
based on what percentage of the vote they
got

9. The National Convention
• Each party has a National Convention
where they officially elect their ONE
presidential candidate and adopt their
party platform (summer of election year)
• By this time, there is ONLY ONE
candidate from each party running for
president against each other (1
Republican vs. 1 Democrat)

10. Part II: Winning the Presidency
• The presidential election is NOT won by popular
votes, but by electoral votes in the Electoral
College
• Voters in each state actually choose electors who
vote for a candidate
– basically, we vote for the president indirectly
• # Electoral Votes in a State = # in Reps. in House
of Representatives + # of Senators)
– Virginia has 13 Electoral Votes because we have 11
Representatives + 2 Senators = 13
– Electors are NOT delegates or politicians, just party
loyal people

12. • Each elector promises to vote for a certain
presidential candidate
– Ex: So when you vote for Trump/Pence, you’re
really voting for the electors in your state who
have promised to vote for Trump/Pence in the
Electoral College
• The presidential candidate who gets the most
votes in a state gets ALL* the state’s electoral
votes (*except Maine and Nebraska – are
proportional)
-->YOU NEED 270 (out of 538) ELECTORAL
VOTES TO WIN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

13. • After the election, the electors meet in
their state capitals in December of
election year to officially vote for the
president
• Electors should and generally vote the
way their state voted (but are not
necessarily required to)

14. Campaign Financing
• Running for office costs A LOT of
money…
–About $1.5 million to run for a
House seat
–About $20 million to run for a
Senate seat
–In 2016, both presidential
candidates spent a combined $2.4
billion to run for president

15. Where Do Candidates Get Their
Campaign Money?
• Individual donors can give no more
than $2,800 to a candidate; no more
than $50 if giving anonymously)
• PACs and Super PACs
• Gov’t subsidies (grants)
• Fundraising organizations
• A candidate’s own money

16. Political Action Committees
(PACs)
• Groups of people who want to influence
gov’t decisions by spending money on
candidates’ campaigns
• PACs can only give up to $5,000
directly to any one candidate
• Super PACs are backed by
corporations and can spend unlimited $
(but can’t give it directly to a candidate’s
campaign)

17. The FEC
• Federal Election Commission -
bipartisan committee that regulates and
enforces laws on campaign financing
– created by the Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1974 (to limit and reveal financing)
– has 6 members (3 Rep., 3 Dem.)
– campaign contributions by individuals and
groups must be reported to FEC

18. • Hard money - given directly
to candidates
• Soft money - given non-
regulated funds to sources
like political parties to then
give to their candidate (illegal
now)

19. QUIZ
• Suffrage
• Electorate
• Political
socialization
• Political efficacy
• Literacy test
• Straight ticket
voting
• Poll tax
• Split ticket voting
• PAC
• Super PAC