visuals for unit on the Electoral Process in the United States federal government

3.  Nomination – the
naming of those
who will seek office
(5 ways)
 The process of
candidate selection
is a critically
important step in
the election
process.

4.  How does the
nominating process
have a big impact
on our right to
vote?
 Nominating
limits our choices
in an election.

5.  One-party
constituencies
(those areas where
one party regularly
wins elections).
 The nominating
process usually is
the only point at
which there is any
real contest for a
public office.

6. Primary election
Democrats
Republicans
General Election

7.  What is a general election?
 Regularly scheduled elections at
which voters make the final
selection.

8. Self
Announce
Petition
Direct
Primary
Caucus
Convention

9.  Self-announcement
is the oldest form of
the nominating
process in American
politics
 First used in
colonial times,
found today in
small towns and
rural areas.

10.  A person announces
they want to run for
office.
 Who uses this?
 Someone who
failed to win their
party’s
nomination.

11.  A group of like-minded
people who meet to
select the candidates
they will support in an
upcoming election.
 Originally the caucus
was a private meeting
consisting of a few
influential figures in
the community.

12.  What happened
when Political
Parties started
appearing?
 Political parties
began to broaden
the membership
of the caucus.

13.  The legislative
caucus is a meeting
of a party’s members
in the state or
federal Congress –
the legislators
would choose who
would run for office.

14.  They were practical in
their day because of
transportation and
communication issues.
 As democracy spread,
why did opposition
grow to the caucus?
 Critics felt they
closed and
unrepresentative in
nature.

15.  The caucus is still
used to make
local nominations
(New England)
and is open to all
members of a
party.

16.  As the caucus method
collapsed, the
convention system took
its place.
 Who had the 1st national
convention to nominate
a presidential
candidate?
 Anti-Mason Party
in 1931

17.  The process begins in
local caucus and works
its way up to through the
country, state and then
the national level.
 The convention system
began to come under
attack in the early 1900s
and was to be replaced
by another method.

18.  Party Bosses began to
manipulate the
process.
 The convention system
began to come under
attack in the early
1900s and was to be
replaced by another
method.

19.  A direct primary is an
intra-party election to
pick that party’s
candidate for the general
election.
 State laws require that
the major parties use the
primaries to choose
their candidates for the
Senate, House,
governorship, etc.
First used in
Wisconsin in 1903

20.  Party nominating
election in which
ONLY declared
party members
can vote.
 Party membership
is established by
registration.
Found
in 27
states

21.  Party nominating election in which
ANY qualified voter can take part.
Found
in 23
states

22.  Through 2000, 3
states have used a
different version
of the open
primary called the
blanket primary

23.  All voters receive same ballot and can vote
for any party for any office they like.
 California’s version was ruled
Unconstitutional.

24.  Those who favor the closed primary
argue:
 It prevents one party from “raiding” the
other’s primary in the hope of nominating
a weaker candidate.
 Candidates are more responsive to the
party and its members.
 How does it make voters more thoughtful?
 Voters must choose between the parties in
order to vote in the primaries

25.  It compromises the
secrecy of the
ballot.
 It tends to exclude
independent voters
from the
nomination
process.

26.  Against Closed:
Compromises
secret ballot
2. Tends to exclude
independent
voters from the
nomination
process
1.
 For Closed:
Prevents one party
from raiding
another party’s
primary
2. Makes candidates
more responsive
to party members
3. Voters make more
thoughtful in
choosing a party
1.

27.  Winner needs an
absolute majority
(more than 50%)
 Top 2 vote getters
in the 1st primary
“Run-Off” or face
one another in a
2nd election.

28.  These are elections
in which candidates
are not identified by
party labels.
 Typically, a
contender who wins
a clear majority runs
unopposed in the
general election.

29.  The direct primary
was intended to
take the
nominating
function out of the
hands of the party
organization and
give it to the party
membership.

30.  A number of criticisms
have been leveled at the
direct primary:
 Closed vs. open
arguments
 A tough primary fight
can cost a lot of money,
thus adding to cost
running for office (this
keeps well qualified
people away)

31.  What is the ‘divisive
effect’ on the party?
 A bitter primary can
weaken and divide a
party for the general
election.
 Many voters are not well
informed on the
candidates, so name
familiarity is key
because it gives a
contender an edge.

32.  Is an election that is held as one part of
the process by which presidential
candidates are chosen.
 Very complex process.

33.  Nominating by means
of petitions signed by a
certain number of
required qualified
voters in the election
district.
 When is this method
used?
 Mostly at the local
level.

35.  Democratic
government cannot
succeed unless
elections are free,
honest, and accurate.
 The lengthy and
closely detailed
provisions of the
election law are
meant to protect the
integrity of the
electoral process.

36.  Most election law in the
US is State law, but the
Constitution does give
Congress some power
over elections:
 Set the date of
elections.
 Must have secret
ballots.
 Amendments that
deal with suffrage

37.  Why did Congress
pass the bill?
 Election of 2000
 Some of the major
provisions of the bill:
 Replace lever-operated
and punch-card voting
devices by 2006
 Upgrade administration
of elections

38.  A voter’s eligibility
has been
challenged…but can
vote and the voter’s
qualification can be
checked or verified
later.

39.  Congress set the date
for national elections
(Tuesday after the 1st
Monday in November).
 Explanation of:
 Never on a Sunday
(Church and state)
 1st day of month is
often payday
(pressure from
employer)

40.  Some states have
allowed for early
voting in an effort
to increase voter
turnout and
make voting more
convenient.

41.  Voting by those
unable to get to their
regular polling places
on election day.
 Designed for:
1. Sick/Ill
2. Disabled
3. Away from home

42.  This occurs when a strong
candidate running for an
office at the top of the
ballot helps attract voters
to other candidates on
the party’s ticket.
 Reverse Coattail:
 Candidate at top of
ticket can HURT
other party members.

43.  A precinct is a
voting district.
 Smallest geographic
units for elections.
 What are the sizes
of precincts?
 500 to 1000
qualified voters

44.  A polling place is the
place where the voters
who live in a precinct
actually vote.
 A precinct election
board supervises the
polling place and
voting process in each
precinct.

45.  IDENTIFY some of
the responsibilities
of the board:
 Make sure only
qualified voters
vote.
 Machines work
 Count the votes

46.  One from each party :
are allowed at each
polling place.
 They may challenge any
voter they believe is not
qualified.
 Check to be sure that
their own party’s
supporters do vote.
 Monitor the whole
voting process,
including the ballot
count.

47.  Define Ballot:
 A device used to
record a voter’s
choices.
 Over the history of the
United States voting has
taken many shapes (voice,
paper ballots) and
corruption led to a demand
for ballot reforms.

48.  Each State now
provides for a
secret ballot.
 Ballots are cast in
such a manner
that others cannot
know how a person
voted.

49. 1. Printed at public
expense
2. Lists names of all
candidates
3. Given out only at
polls
4. Marked in secret

50.  Candidates are
grouped on this
ballot by office they
are running for.
 Sometimes called
the Massachusetts
ballot because of its
early use (1888)
there.

51.  Lists each party’s
candidates in a column
under the party’s name.
 Good: parties like
because it promotes
straight-ticket voting
 Bad: does not take
much thought in the
voting process.

52.  Can help voters
prepare for an
election.
 They are mailed in
some states and
appear in
newspapers in
others.

53.  The ballot in a typical
American election is
lengthy because it
may list so many
offices, candidates
and ballot measures.
 Even the most
informed voters had
a difficult time
marking it
intelligently.

54.  Origin of :
 Jacksonian
Democracy in the
1830s
 More offices
meant more
democratic the
government was

55.  Critics say it is
hard to know the
candidates and
their
qualifications on
such a long ballot
– thus it is bad for
democracy.

56.  Well over half the votes now cast in
national elections are cast on some
type of voting machine or electronic
voting device.
 Describe the lever-operated machines:
 Pull one lever to open (unlock ballot)
and another to close or actually vote

57.  Electronic data processing (EDP)
techniques were first applied to the
voting process in the 1960s.
 Punch-card ballots (counted by
computers) were the most widely used.

58.  What was the major
problem of the
punch-card ballots?
 If voter failed to
make clean punch,
the result was a
‘hanging chad” that
would not count as
a vote.

59.  The use of punch-
card ballots ended
by 2006, due to the
Help Americans
Vote Act of 2002
after the 2000
presidential
election mess.

61.  What are most
states now turning
to for more
efficient EDPbased voting
systems?
 Touch screens or
scantron like
voting.

62.  A number of states
conduct some elections
by mail.
 Voters receive a ballot in
the mail, make their
choices, and then mail
the ballot back to
election officials.
 Which state today
conducts all of its
elections by mail?
 OREGON

63.  Critics of:
 Supporters of:
1. Threatens
1. Just as fraud
secret ballot
2. Threat of
fraud from
stolen ballots
proof as any
other method
2. Increases
voter turnout
3. Saves money

64.  Casting ballots via
the Internet has
attracted
considerable
attention in the
past few years.
 There have been
some votes cast online in the past
several years.

65.  Critics of:
1. Digital
disaster
2. Hacker fraud
3. Voter secrecy
4. Digital Divide
 Supporters of:
1. Increase
voter
participation
2. Increase
turnout
3. Reduce costs
of voting

67.  The presidential
election eats up by
the largest share of
campaign dollars - $2
billion for primaries
and general election
in 2012.
 The cost of
congressional
campaigns also
continues to climb
each cycle.

68.  Where is all this
money being
spent?
 Radio and TV
 Campaign Staff
 Polls, mailings, web
 Office space
 Travel

69.  Private and Public
Sources.
 Private givers have
always been the
major sources of
campaign funds and
they come in
various shapes and
sizes:

70.  Individuals both
small and wealthy
 What is a PAC?
 Political Action
Committee
 Political Arms of
special interest
groups

71.  Temporary
organizations - groups
formed for the
immediate purpose of a
campaign, including
fund raising.
 How do parties attempt
to raise money?
 Dinners, receptions
and other fund raisers.

72.  Campaign
donations are a
form of political
participation and
those who make
them do so for
several reasons:

73.  They believe in a party or candidate.
 Want something in return, maybe
access to the government.
 Some big donors want appointments to
public office, while others want to keep
the ones they have.
 EXPLAIN the social recognition reason:
 Dinner at White House, meeting with
Cabinet official, etc.

74.  Congress first began to
regulate the use of
money in federal
election in 1907 and since
then, Congress has
passed major campaign
finance laws.
 Congress does not have
the power to regulate
state and local elections
– that is up to each
individual state.

75.  The Federal
Election
Commission
(FEC) administers
all federal law
dealing with
campaign
finance.

76.  It was set up in 1974
(after Watergate) and it
an independent agency
with 6 members.
 Why is it hard for the
FEC to do an effective
job?
 It is both
underfunded and
understaffed.

77.  Disclosure
requirements are
intended to spotlight
the place of money in
federal campaigns.
 What types of
contributions are
prohibited?
 Cash over $100, foreign
contributions, in
someone else’s name

78.  Made through a
single campaign
committee, which
can only spend
that candidate’s
campaign money.

79.  All contributions and
spending must be
closely accounted for.
 What about the
disclosure of
contributions or
loans?
 Any over $200 must
be identified by
source and date

80.  There are limits on
how much an
individual can give
to a federal
candidate.
 $2600 per
election, per
candidate

81.  Neither corporations
nor labor unions can
contribute to any
candidate running for
a federal office – but
their PACs can and do.
 A PACs clout comes
from their ability to
raise campaign money
and their willingness
to give it to their
“friends” who run for
public office.

82.  The Supreme Court
decision on Buckley v.
Valeo (1976) was key to
the issue of spending
limits.
 Why did the Supreme
Court strike down
spending limits?
 Free Speech issue
with spending
money.

83.  The 1971 Revenue Act
allowed for everyone
who files a federal
income tax return to
‘check off’ $3 to the
Presidential Election
Campaign Fund.
 The monies collected
are used every four
years to finance the
following:

84.  Preconvention
Campaigns
 National
Conventions
 Presidential
Campaigns – unless
candidate turns
down $$$