US/VA Government 2009

1. US/VA Government 2009 Chapter 7: The Electoral Process Ms. A. Boland

2. Chapter 7 Activity • Select one of the topics in this chapter and draw two political cartoons that comment on it. Possibilities include the “bed-sheet ballot”, the coattail effect, and campaign finance reform. Your cartoons should express different points of view on the same issue. • www.funnytimes.com Look at the left-hand column and click on cartoon playground to create your own political cartoon.

3. Objectives • The methods by which candidates are nominated to run for public office. • The conduct of elections in the United States. • The place of money and the regulation of its use in the electoral process.

4. Chapter 7 Vocabulary • Nomination • General election • Caucus • Direct primary • Closed primary • Open primary • Blanket primary • Runoff primary • Nonpartisan election • Ballot • Absentee voting • Coattail effect • Precinct • Polling place • Ballot • Political action committee (PAC) • Subsidy • Hard money • Soft money

5. Chapter 7 – Section 1: The Nominating Process • What is the importance of the nominating stage in the electoral process? • Describe self-announcement, the caucus, and the convention as nominating methods. • Discuss the direct primary as the principal nominating method used in the United States today. • How are petitions used in the nominating process?

6. Importance of Nominations • Nomination: the naming of those who will seek office. • Critical step in the election process. • Prime function of political parties in America politics. • Places real, very practical limits on the choices that voters can make in the general election. • Different ways to nominate in American politics.

7. Importance of Nominations • General elections: regularly scheduled elections at which voters make the final selection of officeholders. Usually only list one candidate for each office. • Five nomination categories: • (1) self-announcement, (2) caucus, (3) convention, (4) direct primary, and (5) petition.

9. Importance of Nominations • (1) Self-announcement: • Oldest form of nominating. • Aperson who wants to run for office announces it. • Used in colonial times and still found often in small towns at the rural level. • Also, used when candidates are written in. • Ex) Used by 4 prominent presidential candidates: Ross Perot, John Anderson, Eugene McCarthy, and George Wallace.

11. Nomination Categories • (2) Caucus: a group of like-minded persons who meet to select the candidates they will support in an upcoming election. • Originally occurred during the Colonial Period. • Recorded by John Adams in his diary. • Early caucuses were criticized by many and reached their peak in the 1824 election. • Caucuses are now used to make local nominations in some areas. Ex) New England

13. Nomination Categories • (3) The Convention: took the place of the caucus. First convention was held by a minor party, the Anti-Masons in 1831, and then the Whigs that same year. • Meet at a caucus to select local candidates and select delegates to represent them at a county convention, then State convention, etc.

15. Nomination Categories • 1870’s – Convention seen as a source of evil in America. • By 1910, it was replaced by the direct primary as the principle nominating method. • Some states still use a convention at the State level: Connecticut, Michigan, Utah, and Virginia. It is closely regulated by State Law. • Convention still used in presidential elections.

17. Nomination Categories • (4) Direct Primary: an election held within the party to pick the party’s candidates for the general election. • Wisconsin adopted the 1stStatewide direct primary law in 1903. Every State now has at least some provision for it. • Used to choose U.S. Senate and House, governorship, state offices, local offices, etc. • Party nominating elections and are closely regulated. The State has the power not the party.

19. Nomination Categories • Closed primary: party nominating election in which only declared party members can vote. • Open primary: party nominating election in which any qualified voter can take part. • Blanket primary: different version of the open primary, often called the wide-open primary. Used in Washington and California. • Runoff primary: two top vote-getters in the first direct primary face one another, and the winner of that vote becomes the nominee.

20. Nomination Categories • (5) Petition: candidates for public office are nominated by petitions signed by a certain number of qualified voters in the election district. • Found most widely at the local level. • Also, used for nominations of minor party and independent candidates in most States. Usually a difficult process to get on the ballot. • Process varies from State to State, but a higher office usually requires a great number of signatures for nomination.

22. Video Clip • Caucuses, Conventions, and Primaries: 5 minutes • http://www.history.com/videos/primaries-caucuses-and-conventions#primaries-caucuses-and-conventions

23. Chapter 7 – Section 2: Elections • For what reasons are the details of the election process so important? • Where and when do elections take place? • What is the ballot and what are the many forms it takes?

24. The Administration of Elections • Most high school students are not old enough to vote, but in some parts of the country, they can serve on election boards. (Panels that administer elections for public office holders) • Americans hold many elections. • The only exclusions are Sundays and holidays. • Americans elect many office holders, more than 500,000 of them.

26. The Administration of Elections • Once nominated, candidates face their opponents in the general election. • Democratic government cannot succeed unless elections are free, honest, and accurate. • The lengthy and detailed election laws are designed to protect the integrity of the election process.

27. The Extent of Federal Control • Most election laws in the United States are State law. • Constitution gives Congress the power to fix “the time, places, and manner of holding elections”. • Congressional elections held the 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November of even years.

29. The Extent of Federal Control • Presidential elections are every 4 years. • Congress has required the use of secret ballots and allowed the use of voting machines in federal elections. • All other matters are dealt with in the laws of the States.

31. When Elections Are Held • Most States hold elections on the same date that Congress has set for national elections. • Some States do use other dates for some local offices. • Ex) Virginia, Louisiana, and New Jersey elect the governor in odd numbered years.

33. Coattail Effect • Coattail effect: 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. • Ex) 1980 and 1984, Ronald Reagan’s coattail helped many Republican candidates win office. • Most apparent in presidential elections. • Reverse coattail effect – when a candidate for high office is less than popular with many voters. Ex) 1980 President Carter.

35. Precincts and Polling Places • Precinct: voting district. Size restricted by State law, generally an area with no more than 500 – 1,000 qualified voters. • Polling place: where the voters who live in a precinct actually vote. Located somewhere in or near precinct. • Precinct election board supervises the polling place and the voting process. Also, open and close the polls. Often they count the votes cast and send in the results. • Poll watchers, one from each party, allowed at each polling place for monitoring.

36. The Ballot • Ballot: device by which a voter registers a choice in an election. • Secret ballots required, so no one knows how a voter has voted. • Originally votes were cast vocally and then on paper. Both lead to corruption and unfair practices. • Ballot reforms were a must.

38. The Ballot • Australian ballot: originated in Australia in 1856, basic form of all ballots today. • 4 Features: (1) printed at public expense, (2) lists the names of all candidates in an election, (3) given out ONLY at the polls, (4) secret vote. • Office-Group ballot: original form of Australian ballot. Aka “Massachusetts ballot”. The candidates for each office are grouped together.

39. The Ballot • Party-Column ballot: Aka “Indiana ballot”. It lists each party’s candidates in a column under the party’s name. Encourages straight-ticket voting. • Sample ballots: mailed to voters and appear in newspapers. They can’t be cast, but it helps voters prepare for an election. • Long Ballot: Aka “The Bed-sheet Ballot”. Found mostly at the local level, these ballots bring on Ballot Fatigue 

41. Voting Machines and Innovations • 1st patent on a voting machine was done by Thomas Edison. It was first used in New York in 1892. • Only a few States make voting machines mandatory, but over ½ of all votes are cast in national elections using voting machines. • The typical voting machine serves as its own booth. • Voting machines are very useful, from speeding up the voting process, to minimizing fraud and errors.

43. Voting Machines and Innovations • Electronic Vote Counting: uses EDP (electronic data processing). Originated in California and Oregon. Seen in punch-card ballots, and paper ballots with sensitized ink. • Vote-by-mail elections: 1st held in Monterrey County, CA in 1977. Primarily used in local elections. Highly criticized method. • Today many States use computers to cast their votes.

45. Chapter 7 – Section3: Money and the Election Process • Why is money an indispensable campaign resource? • What problems does money pose in the election process? • How is the use of money regulated in elections today?

46. Campaign Spending Amounts • Running for public office costs money and a lot of it. • Problem: those who have money can try to buy their way in, or special interest groups will try to buy favors. • Money is an absolutely necessary campaign resource, but can cause corruption.

48. Campaign Spending Amounts • Hundreds of millions of $ are spent on elections, from campaigns to general elections. • Presidential elections take the most $. Ex) 1996 presidential election = 750 million. • Congressional election $ on the rise. • Where does the $ go: bumper stickers, office rent, television, radio, data processing, mass mailing, travel, pamphlets, buttons, commercials, consultants, managers, posters, etc, etc.

50. Sources of Campaign Funding • Sources: private contributors and public treasury (subsidies). • Private Givers: 5 Types: (1) Small contributors, (2) Wealthier persons and families, (3) Candidates themselves, (4) Non-party groups, and (5) temporary organizations. • Political Action Committees: (PACs), political arms of special interest groups that have a major stake in public policy.