Chapter 7: The Electoral Process

Section 1: The Nominating Process Nomination- The naming of those who will seek office. Nominations are made in five different ways: – Self- announcement – Caucus – Convention – Direct primary – Petition

Self- Announcement Jay Leno Show

The Caucus Howard Dean- Iowa Caucus

The Convention PA Delagate List Obama- 2012

The Direct Primary – Primary Dates Primary Dates

Two Basic Forms of Direct Primary Closed PrimaryOpen Primary

Closed vs. Open Primary Closed Primary Prevents one party from “raiding” the other’s primary in hope of nominating the weaker candidate. It helps make voters more thoughtful, they must choose a party. Open Primary It tends to excludes the independent voter.

Look at the Map on pg. 191

Petition

Primary, Caucus, and Convention Explained Explanation Video

Section 2: Elections

Extent of Federal Control Dates- pg. 194 Congress has the power to fix the “Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections” of members of Congress. Congress also has the power to set the time for choosing presidential electors, and to the set the date for casting electoral votes.

Help America Vote Act of pg Replace all their lever operated and punch card voting devices by Upgrade their administration of elections, especially through better training of local election officials. Centralize and computerize voter registration systems- Helps to fraudulent voting. Provide for provisional voting- Vote that is challenged can still be cast and counted if found to be ok.

2000 Presidential Election Presidential Election Bush vs. Gore

Election Day

The Coattail Effect Examples- Pg. 195

Precincts and Polling Places

Montco Precinct Lists Montco Precinct Maps

Casting the Ballot A ballot can take a number of different forms, ranging from a piece of paper to touch screens. State law requires that ballots be cast in such a manner that other’s cannot know how a person voted.

Automated Voting Well over half of the votes now cast in national elections are cast on some type of voting machine- and increasingly, on some type of electronic voting device.

Section 3: Money and Elections For 2012, total spending for all of the major and minor parties elections approached 2.5 billion dollars. A candidate must raise and spend well over $1 million in a typical race for a seat in the House of Representatives. A Senate campaign can cost 20 times that amount. Total campaign spending- pg. 202

Sources of Funding Small Contributors

Wealthy Individuals

Candidates

Various Nonparty Groups

Temporary Organizations

Internet Fundraising Over recent years, the Internet has become by far, the most productive of source of funding. Often, donations spike immediately after an important speech or primary election victory. Chart- pg. 203

Political Action Committees PAC's List of PAC's The political extension of special interest groups which have a major stake in public policy.

Why People Give Campaign donations are a form of political participation. Many small donors give simply because they believe in a party or candidate. Access to the government- Donations are made to help “friends get elected.”

Regulating Finance Congress has passed several laws to regulate the use of money in presidential and congressional campaigns. Today, these regulations are found in four detailed laws: – Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 – The FECA Amendments of 1974 and 1976 – Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

Regulating Finance The earliest federal laws were loosely drawn, often not obeyed, and rarely enforced Replaced prior existing laws Response to Watergate scandal.

Federal Election Commission FEC- Trump

FEC Enforcement Areas 1.Require timely disclosure of campaign finance data. 2.Place limits on campaign contributions. 3.Place limits on campaign expenditures.

Disclosure Requirements

Limits on Contributions

PAC Contributions

PAC’s are the political arms of special interest groups- especially business associations and labor unions. They raise money from their members, not the general public.

Regulating Finance CNN Money Video

Hard Money, Soft Money Hard Money- Contributions that are given directly to candidates for their campaigns for Congress or the White House, are limited and must be reported. Soft Money- Funds given to parties or to other political organizations, in unlimited amounts, to be used for such “party-building activities” such as voter registration or campaigns.

What message do you think the political cartoonist is attempting to send?