Chapter 12 Part One Electing the President

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Chapter 12Part OneElecting the President
Instructor Kevin Sexton Course U.S. Political
Systems Southeast Missouri State University
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Electing a President

• The process of electing a president is a two
• step process
• 1. The Parties nominate their candidate
• through a CAUCUS or PRIMARY.
• 2. The nominees of each party face-off in
• the GENERAL ELECTION.

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Party Nominations Party Rules
The race to receive your partys nomination for
President of the United States is a party
contest. Democrats are facing Democrats and
Republicans are facing Republicans. For this
reason, it is important to realize that the rules
by which each party nominates its Presidential
candidate are established by each individual
party.
Winning The Nomination Winning Delegates
The candidate that wins their party nomination
will be the candidate that wins a majority of
their partys delegates.
Each PARTY decides how many total delegates there
will be In the 2008 Presidential Election there
will be 4,207 Democratic Delegates 2,380
Republican Delegates Each PARTY also decides how
many delegates each State will have.
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State By State Process
Each STATE decides how they will decide how the
delegates that they are allocated will be
contested. In essence the presidential
nomination process is a series of fifty (50)
different elections. Each STATE holds a
presidential primary election (caucus or direct
primary). It is the individual STATE that
decides which process their state is going to
use. 75 Of The States Use Direct Primary 25 Of
The States Use The Caucus Method
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Caucus

• This system used to nominate a presidential
  candidate is only used in about 25 of the 50
  states.
• Local party meetings at the precinct level. This
  group decides which candidate will be supported
  by the precinct.
• If more than one candidate has support, each
  candidate is given representation at the COUNTY
  caucus/convention based on the proportion of
  people at the meeting.
• The same process is followed at the COUNTY
  caucus/convention to decide which candidate(s)
  will be supported at STATE caucus/convention.
• It is at the STATE caucus/convention that the
  state decides which candidate they will support
  as their parties nominee for president.

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Caucus (cont.)

• This process is dominated by the party faithful
  or party elite.
• Because it is very time consuming and most
  average voters will not take the time to take
  part in the process.
• In fact, in caucus states it is estimated that
  only 6 of eligible voters take part in the
  caucus process.

MISSOURI has used the caucus in the past, but
have recently begun using the PRIMARY as their
methods of selecting their presidential nominee.
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Primary Election
An election by which each party selects the ONE
candidate that will Represent their party in the
general election. The winner of this election
simply gets to represent their party in
the General election, they DO NOT win the right
to hold any elected office.
Three types of primaries

• Closed
• Semi-closed
• Open

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Closed Primaries
Primaries in which members must declare a party
(be a registered member of that party) , and by
doing so they are limited to voting ONLY in
their partys primary
This type of primary prevents independents from
voting.
New York, Florida and Pennsylvania are some of
the states that use this type of primary.
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Semi-Closed Primaries
These are primaries in which independents can
vote in either (but not both) partys primary.
They simply ask for which ballot they want.
Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon are some
states that use primary method.
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Open Primaries
In these primaries individuals may request a
ballot for either party. Individuals no not
register as a member of any party. Missouri
uses the OPEN PRIMARY method.
The type of primary that is used can greatly
influence the outcome of some primary
contests. Example 2000 Primaries and Sen. John
McCain of Arizona.
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Funding Primaries
The Federal Election Commission distributes
public finds to major candidates to conduct
primary elections. There are a number of
requirements that the candidates must meet in
order receive and continue receiving these funds.
These requirements are discussed on page 259 of
your textbook. (hint, hint, hint)
In addition to requirements to receive these
funds, there are limitations placed on what
candidates can spend if they accept these funds.
In 2000, George Bush turned down these public
funds because he had raised more money than would
have been allowed had they accepted the
funds. The spending limit was 40.5 million, and
by the time he was eligible for any funds he had
raised 70 million.
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General Election
Once each party has identified the person that
will be their nominee the general election
campaign begins. It is the winner of this
election that will become the President of the
United States. The general election is always
held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
in November. Originally, the President would be
the person that won the majority of the votes in
the ELECTORAL COLLEGE, and the Vice-President woul
d be the person that won the second most. (This
was changed with the passage of the 12th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1804)
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Electoral College
The electoral college is a method of indirectly
electing the President And Vice-President of the
United States.
It is based on the idea that the registered
voters of each state will elect ELECTORS (members
of the Electoral College).
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Electoral College (Cont.)

• Those electors then meet in their respective
  State Capitals in early December to cast their
  Vote in two separate elections for President
  Vice-President.

The Certificate of Votes for President And
Vice-President Is signed by the State Sec. of
State and it is sent to the U.S. Senate.
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Electoral College (Cont.)
On January 6th, the President of the Senate opens
each of the CERTIFICATES from each state, reads
and counts the votes.
The individual receiving the absolute majority of
the electoral votes, currently 270 of 538, for
president becomes president and the individual
receiving the absolute majority of the electoral
votes For vice-resident becomes vice president.
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Current Electoral Vote Distribution
The number of electoral votes each state has is
based on the number of members of Congress that
they have. For example Missouri has 9
members of the U.S. House of Representatives

and Two (2)
members of the U.S. Senate.
Therefore, the State of Missouri has a total of
eleven (11)
ELECTORAL VOTES.
CAN THE NUMBER OF ELECTORAL VOTES A STATE HAS
CHANGE? YES. It can change every 10 years when
Congress reapportions the seats based on the U.S.
Census. California gained 8 electoral votes
between 1981 and 2001 New York lost 5 electoral
votes between 1981 and 2001
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The /- of the Electoral College(1981 2001)
Notice where the gains and Losses have been
Losses The old Steel Belt -- Rust
Belt -- Old Country --
Democratic Areas Gaines The Sun Belt
-- Border States
-- New Country -- Republican
Areas
-5
-3
-4
-3
-3
8
3
3
5
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