Transcript The Electoral Process - North Hollywood High School

The Electoral Process
Chapter 7
How does one get to
run office????
• What steps do you think a person needs to
do in order to run for any public office
position in the U.S. (including President)?
The Nominating Process
•
Nomination- the naming of those who will
seek office
5 Ways to Nominate a Candidate
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Self-announcement
Caucus
Convention
Direct primary
petition
1. Self Announcement
• Oldest form of nomination
• 1st used in colonial times
• The person who wants to run for office just
announces that they will run
• Can also be in the form of a write in
2. Caucus
• A group of like minded people who select
the candidate they will support
• 1st appeared in 1720
• Still used today in New England for local
elections
3. The Convention
• Came into use after the caucus method
collapsed
• 1st used in 1831
• Today all major parties use the convention
to nominate candidates for President and
other offices
How the Convention Works
• Members meet in a local caucus to pick
candidates and delegates
• At the state or national convention those
delegates chose who will be the parties
nominees
4. The Direct Primary
• Election held within a party to select a
candidate for the general election
• 1st used in 1903
• Most states have primaries in which the
people choose their candidates
1) Open Primary- any voter can cast a ballot
2) Close Primary- only party members can vote
3) Blanket Primary- ever voter receives the same ballot
(no longer used as of 2000)
Reasons for Closed Primary
• Prevents “party raiding” one party casting
votes for another parties weaker candidate
• Makes candidates more responsive to the
party and platform
• Makes voters more thoughtful in casting a
vote
Critics of Closed Primaries
• Takes away from the secrecy of the ballot
• Excludes independent voters
5. Petition
• Candidates are nominated by getting
signatures from registered voters
Elections
• 1st Tuesday following the 1st Monday in
November every even numbered year
(date set by Congress)
• Must use secret ballots
Early Voting
• Absentee voting- voter apply for absentee
ballots and mail in their results by a certain
deadline
* Was created to help the elderly and ill
* Today anyone can apply for a absentee ballot
• Some states allow voters to vote a few
days ahead of the election date
E-Voting
• Casting a ballot via the internet
• 1st used in 1997
• Worries of hackers, jammed lines, blocked
access, fraud, viruses have kept online
voting from becoming popular
Barrack Obama
Video Questions:
1. How are votes counted at the Democratic
Caucus in Iowa?
2. What happens if a candidate receives
less than 15% of the vote?
3. Which candidate wins the New
Hampshire primary?
4. What happens on Super Tuesday?
Chapter 7 Review
Money and Elections
Money & Elections
• Running for public office takes lots of
MONEY $$$$$
• No one knows the true amount of how
much is spent on elections
Sources of Funding
• Private & Public sources:
1) small contributor: as little as $5.00 may be
donated
2) wealthy individuals
3) Candidates (Ross Perot spent 65 million
of his own money in 1992)
4) Political Action Committees (PACs)- special
interest groups who have a stake in elections
5) Fundraisers
Regulating Campaign Finance
• Unlawful for corporations or banks to
make contributions in any election
• Corporations, banks and labor unions can
not donate money in Federal Elections
• Federal Election Committee- administers
the laws of election finance
Limits on Contributions
• No person or group can make a donation
in another persons name
• Cash gifts over $100 are not allowed
• No contributions from a foreign source
• Anything over $200 must be identified and
dated
• Anything over $5,000 is reported to the
FEC no later than 48hours after it is
received
• No person can give more than $2,000 to
any federal candidate
• No one can give more than 5,000 to a
political action committee
• No one can give more than $25,000 to
national party committee
Revenue Act of 1971
• When you file taxes one can contribute
$3.00 to the Presidential campaign
• Money goes to pay for national
conventions and the campaign process