Warm Up 4-13-16

Election Campaigns & Paying for Campaigns

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

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

Caucus

Types of Elections 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 1st Tuesday after the 1st 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 Presidential Elections have three main parts Nomination of the Candidates The Campaign The Vote

Nomination of Presidential Candidate Presidential Candidates are nominated like other candidates Primary Elections Caucus System Self-Announcement Petition

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

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

The Vote for President Continued… 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)

What are some problems with the Electoral College?

How do candidates finance a campaign? There are laws that have been established by Congress and Supreme Court decisions about financing an election campaign

Federal Election Campaign Act 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

Funding 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

Funding continued… 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

Spending on Media 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