 Candidate: an individual running for political office  Nomination: Naming those who will seek office

 self-announcement: personally nominate yourself  caucus: meeting where people nominate candidates  conventions: delegates nominate an individual to office  primary: intra-party election of a candidate  petition: nomination by voters’ signatures

 Primary elections: an election where registered voters elect a candidate  General Elections: elections in which final selections of office holders are made  Vote on the 1 st Tuesday after the 1 st Monday in November  Referendum: citizens voting on local or state laws  Special Elections  Run-offs: held when there is no majority vote  Recall: vote to remove a public official from office

 Presidential Elections have three main parts  Nomination of the Candidates  The Campaign  The Vote

 Presidential Candidates are nominated like other candidates  Primary Elections  Caucus System  Self-Announcement  Petition

 Presidential Campaigns start long before the election  Candidates travel across the country giving speeches, appearing on TV, and holding news conferences  Candidates may also face their opponents in televised debates

 The Electoral College: A group of people (electors) chosen from each state and the District of Columbia to select the President and Vice President

 Electoral College Vote the Monday after the 2 nd Wednesday in December  Total votes = 538  Senators (100) + Representatives (435) + D.C. (3) = 538  NC has 15 Electors

 Winner-take-all System: The candidate with the most votes takes all the electoral votes within the states  To be President you need a majority of the Electoral Votes = 270 (51% of 538)

 There are laws that have been established by Congress and Supreme Court decisions about financing an election campaign

 Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)- law that requires candidates to publicly disclose how they spend campaign monies  Limits hard money donations from individuals and groups  The Federal Election Commission (FEC)- monitors election spending Hard money- money given directly to a candidate in a election to assist his or her campaign

 Public funding- tax payers can donate to the Presidential Campaign Fund; major party candidates receive equal shares of this fund  Political Action Committees (PAC)- non-party private groups organized to elect government officials to promote their interests; PAC’s play a major part in giving in hopes for legislation to be passed in their favor

 Candidate can also donate money themselves and have fundraisers to support their campaign  Most money comes from soft money  Soft Money- non regulated money for campaigns  examples: money for “party-building activities”, candidate recruitment, voter registration, etc.  soft money offers a loophole in the system

 Many TV ads a paid for by Interest Groups  Interest Group- any association of individuals or organizations formed on the basis of shared concerns in attempts to influence public policy in its favor  Interest Groups help candidates they like  There are no limits on how much these groups spend