Elections Process

State and Local Elections 1 st Tuesday after the 1 st Monday in November Every year Sometimes in May –School Levies, City issues

Congressional Elections Same day every EVEN year

Presidential Elections Same day – Every Four (4) years

Ballots Australian Ballot –Printed at Public Expense –All candidates on one ballot –1 ballot per voter –Secret voting

Ballot Types Party Column Ballot Ballot has option for voting only for a specific party –Democrat, Republican, 3 rd parties Good for party loyalists Office Group Ballots Ballot is organized by political office –Pres, Governor, Mayor, Senate, etc. Good for “split ticket” voters

Ballot Types Party Column Ballot Office Group Ballot

Voting Machines and Innovations Lever machines Electronic Voting Paper cards with ink Punch cards (butterfly ballot) Touch screen Optical scan

Coattail Effect HELPS When a candidate’s popularity HELPS other candidates in his/her party win also Obama Helped Dems in 2008 FDR helped Democrats win in 1932

Reverse Coattail Effect HURTS When a candidate/policy lack of popularity HURTS the chances of others in his/her party ObamaCare hurt Dems in 2010 Bush Hurt McCain in 2008

Nominating Process of Political Parties

Nominating Process Most important function of parties First step in electing candidates Sets practical limits on voter choices

Self-Announcement Announce your own candidacy Usually no party Ross Perot, 1992 Ralph Nader, 2004

Caucus Meeting of citizens of one party to case vote for one candidate Iowa – first caucus, representative of entire nation

The Direct Primary  Most similar to an election  Average Voters choose candidate  New Hampshire is First state  Closed Primary – only registered party members vote  Open Primary – everyone votes all ballots count  Runoff Primary – top two finishers will compete again

Party Convention Party members from across the country gather to choose candidates Week long Media event

Ohio’s Primary System  Open Primary  Declare party when you show up  Can change parties from year to year  Your party is determined by your vote  Our Presidential Primary is in March  Super Tuesday

Current Nominees for 2016 *** As of 4/13/2015*** REPUBLICAN Ted Cruz – Sen. Texas Rand Paul – Sen. Kentucky Mark Rubio – Sen. Florida DEMOCRAT Hillary Clinton – former Sen. NY; former Sec. of State