HOW ELECTIONS WORK IN THE UNITED STATES ELECTORAL PROCESS HOW ELECTIONS WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

STEP ONE: NOMINATION The first step in the electoral process is to nominate a candidate There are a variety of ways to do this 1. Self-nomination-Very simple a person says that they will run for public office 2. Caucus- this is a nominating method open to all members of a political party (like a big town hall meeting)

MORE METHODS FOR NOMINATION 3. Conventions are used more at a national level to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates 4. Primary-there are 2 types of primaries--a closed primary is a preliminary election that only declared members of the party can vote An open primary allows any qualified voter to vote Petition is the last method for nomination--a certain number of voters must sign a paper to allow that person to run for office Open vs. Closed primaries--many arguments for and against each Many believe closed primaries prevent “party raiding” Many also believe that closed excludes independent voters (there are more and more of these today)

THE ACTUAL ELECTIONS General Elections are held of the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November You vote at polling places in your precinct (ballot) If you can’t make it to the polling place you can request and absentee ballot

NEW VOTING METHODS Many states use electronic data processing to count votes (doesn’t always work Florida 2000) Online voting has become a recent issue Many soldiers in Iraq wanted to use this in 2004 Many worry about its security

ELECTIONS AND MONEY It costs a lot to run a campaign today (2004 between Bush and Kerry over $6,000,000,000) Need time on T.V., radio, travel, hire staff Campaign spending goes up every year (2008 is expected to be as high as 8 billion)

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM Regular everyday people give money These can range from $5-as much as someone wants to give Candidates also use their own money PAC’s donate-they represent interest groups There have been limits placed on these groups

MORE MONEY Candidates also hold dinners where they speak and charge money (Ross Perot $62 million) The federal government also subsidies elections There is a ton of money thrown at candidates each year and many people are worried about candidates impartiality

ELECTION FINANCE REFORM Federal government created the Federal Election Campaign Act to regulate donations The Federal Election Commission does 4 things: 1. Require disclosure of campaign contributions

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM 2. Place limits on campaign contributions 3. Limit campaign spending 4. Provide candidates with federal funding The idea behind this is to make candidates responsive to voters and not wealthy individuals or corporations

ARE THE LAWS INEFFECTIVE Soft money goes to the political party (why might that be a problem) Hard money is subject to FEC laws You can spend as much as you want on ads without giving the money to a candidate You can spend money to do things like rent office space, let candidates borrow things (planes), or simply pay your own staff to make phone calls for a candidate