The American presidential election (13)
Today I received the following e-mail:
“Hi Roger, my name is Leah and I have been browsing your site looking for information on how the American elections are run. I am Canadian and I’m just now trying to understand the system. It is extra important to me this year because of the candidates in the running. I truly find it confusing so if you could take a minute to explain to me how all these primaries and pre-votes etc. work within the system I sure would appreciate it. Thank you, in advance, for your time.
I thought that readers of NightHawk might find my answer of some interest:
The key point to understand is that formally the Democratic and Republican Parties choose their Presidential candidate through a vote of delegates at a convention and not directly through the various ballots in the various primaries.
Each party allocates delegates to each state, roughly proportionate to its size in numbers of citizens. There are two types of delegates. The normal delegates are those who are chosen by voters to back a specific candidate. Technically these delegates are pledged to that candidate but there are circumstances in which they can switch their support. Then there are super delegates who are notable figures in the party such as former presidents, governors and members of Congress who are free to back whichever candidate they wish. They can do this any time they like. They can also change their mind before the convention.
For the 2008 conventions, the Democrats have a total of 4,049 delegates including super delegates and so, to win the nomination, the Democratic front runner needs a total of 2,025 delegates. The Republicans have a total of 2,380 delegates including super delegates and so, to win the nomination, the Republican front runner needs a total of 1,191 delegates .
How the normal delegates are chosen is a matter for each party in each of the 50 states.
Some hold caucuses which require voters to turn up to discussions on the merits of the contending candidates. Most hold conventional-style elections. Another variation is that in some cases one can only take part in a caucus or election if one is registered for that political party but, in other cases, anyone in the state – including those registered for another party or none – can vote.
How normal delegates are then allocated to the different candidates is also a matter for each party in each of the 50 states. In most of the Republican contests (but not all), the candidate who wins the most votes in that state’s primary wins all the party’s delegates for that state – a system known as ‘winner takes all’. In all the Democrat contests, delegates are allocated roughly proportional to the vote secured by the candidate subject to a minimum performance. The allocation process varies but typically it is based on the performance of the candidate in particular Congressional districts.
February 6th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Because of the way the Democrat delegate system works (which is eminently sensible to me than the Republican’s winner takes all), we are virtually guaranteed that Obama and Clinton are going to do down to the wire. It should continue to be a very interesting contest, if it’s your kind of thing.