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Campaigns & Elections Objective 2.1

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Objectives

 What methods are used to choose candidates?

 How are elections conducted in the U.S?

 What role does money play in politics?

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Introduction

•  What methods are used to choose candidates for public office?

•  Candidates are nominated for public office through: •  Self-announcement

•  Caucus

•  Convention

•  Direct primary

•  Petition

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The Nominating Process •  What is a nomination?

•  The process of selecting the candidates who will seek public office. It is a key function of American political parties.

•  In our two-party system, the nominating process puts limits on the choices available to voters in the general election.

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Self-Announcement •  A person who wants to

run for office can simply announce that fact.

•  Whenever a write-in candidate appears, self-announcement has been used.

Why might wealthy candidates favor self-announcement?

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The Caucus •  A caucus is a group of people who meet to select

candidates for election

•  In the early republic, key party members met in caucuses to nominate candidates.

•  Party members in State legislatures held caucuses to nominate candidates for State offices, while party caucuses in Congress nominated presidential candidates.

•  Caucuses were criticized as being too small, private, and out of touch with everyday party members.

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The Convention •  Conventions replaced caucuses.

•  Party voters choose delegates who attend conventions, where they pick party candidates and elect delegates to attend higher level conventions.

•  Conventions were soon controlled by party bosses.

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The Direct Primary

•  By law, the direct primary is now the nominating method used by the major parties in most States.

•  Qualified voters cast private ballots for their preferred candidate. The person receiving the most votes is nominated.

•  The States regulate and conduct party primaries.

•  A closed primary is closed to all but declared members of a party. Usually this means being a registered party member.

•  An open primary is open to all qualified voters.

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Open vs. Closed Primaries

•  Closed primaries … •  help make candidates more responsive to their party

•  force voters to choose a party affiliation

•  keep the opposing party from “raiding” a primary and picking the weakest candidates.

•  Open primaries… •  do not exclude independent voters.

•  In many cases, open primary voters can also keep their choice of party private.

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Forms of Primaries in State Elections

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Evaluating Primaries

•  What are the benefits and drawbacks of primaries?

•  Benefits: •  puts the nominating process into the hands of the everyday

party members.

•  Drawbacks include: •  primaries make campaigns more expensive •  voter turnout in primaries is usually less than half what it

is for general elections. •  emphasizes name familiarity over talent •  can cause divisions within a party.

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Petition

•  At the local level: •  candidates may be nominated by

petitions •  signed by a minimum number of

qualified voters in the election district.

•  Many States require… •  minor party and independent

candidates to be nominated by petition.

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Elections •  How are elections conducted in the United

States?

•  Elections are conducted by qualified voters casting secret ballots under the supervision of precinct election boards.

•  Depending upon State and local laws, voters may cast ballots within precincts at polling places on election day, at polling places just before election day, or by mail-in absentee ballot in the weeks leading up to the election.

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•  The Help America Vote Act of 2000 requires States to:

•  replace lever-operated and punch-card voting machines

•  improve their administration of elections

•  computerize voter registration systems

•  allow provisional voting

Administering Elections

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Early Voting

•  What is early voting? •  involves casting ballots BEFORE election day.

•  States have greatly expanded early voting in recent years.

•  Voters can apply for absentee ballots in advance •  mail them to their local election office before election day.

•  Two-thirds of the States also let voters cast ballots at polling places for a period of several days before election day.

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What Happens to a Ballot?

•  Paper ballots •  collected and taken to a counting

facility.

•  Absentee ballots •  mailed to the counting facility or

brought to the polling place.

•  Electronic ballots •  sent electronically or stored and sent

manually.

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The Coattail Effect •  A strong candidate for an office at the

top of a ballot can attract voters to other candidates on the party’s ticket.

•  A weak candidate, on the other hand, can cost a party votes.

•  Holding State and local elections on different days from federal elections might reduce this coattail effect.

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Precincts and Polling Places •  Precincts are small voting districts with a polling place in or

near them.

•  Precinct election boards supervise the voting process, opening and closing the polls at times set by State law.

•  Precinct boards must also ensure that ballots and voting devices are available and that only qualified voters cast ballots. They often count votes as well.

•  Each party can have a poll watcher at a polling place to monitor the process.

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Casting Ballots •  Ballots can take many forms, from paper sheets to electronic

records.

•  Voting was once public, but now every State requires the use of a secret ballot.

•  By 1900, most States used the Australian Ballot, which remains the basic form of ballot used today. This ballot type: •  Is printed at public expense •  Lists the names of all candidates •  Is given out only at the polls •  Is marked in secret

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Electronic Vote Counting

•  Voting systems based on electronic data processing include optical scanners and direct response electronic voting machines.

•  Some fear that DRE’s could be attacked by computer hackers.

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Online Voting •  Online voting may be the wave of the future, having

been used on a small scale in presidential primaries.

•  Pros: •  Convenient •  less expensive •  likely to increase voter participation.

•  Cons: •  technical problems •  computer viruses •  hackers •  not all Americans can afford a home computer.

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Money & Politics •  What role does money play in electoral politics?

•  The amount of money spent on political campaigns is huge and grows with each election cycle.

•  Some of the rising campaign expenses include items like advertising (with TV ads being most expensive), polls, mass mailings, campaign staff, and travel.

•  The ability to raise money is thus critical for federal office seekers.

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Campaign Spending •  In 2008, presidential candidates

spent some $2.5 billion.

•  In September alone, Obama and McCain each spent an average of: •  $25.2 million on TV and radio ads •  $4.1 million on travel •  $2 million on campaign worker salaries •  $800,000 on polls

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•  Some $1.5 billion was spent on House and Senate contests in 2008.

•  It now costs about $1 million to run for a House seat, and up to 20 times that to campaign for a Senate seat.

Campaign Spending, cont.

What factors may account for the rise seen in the chart to the right?

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Sources of Funding

•  Where do campaign contributions come from?

•  private givers, such as small contributors, •  wealthy individuals,

•  political action committees (PACs),

•  temporary fundraising groups,

•  candidates themselves.

•  Campaigns, particularly presidential campaigns, receive public funds from federal and state treasuries as well.

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Sources of Funding •  The Internet has become a

major fundraising tool, particularly for outsider candidates.

•  Candidates also raise money through telethons and fundraising dinners.

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Regulating Finance •  Congress regulates the use of money in federal

elections. •  It passed the most recent campaign finance law in 2002. •  Federal laws require:

•  the disclosure of campaign finances •  limit contributions and expenditures •  provide federal funding for presidential elections.

•  The Federal Election Commission often struggles to enforce campaign finance laws due to a lack of staff and funds.

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Disclosure Requirements •  Each candidate has a single committee responsible

for all campaign spending and recording all campaign contributions.

• Contributions over $200 must be identified by date, purpose, and the name of the giver. Contributions of more than $5,000 must be reported to the FEC.

• Cash gifts of more than $100 are prohibited, as are contributions and spending from foreign sources.

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Limits on Contributions

•  No person can give over $2,300 to a federal candidate in a primary or general election.

•  No person can give more than $5,000 to a PAC or $28,500 to a national party in a single year.

•  No person can give more than $108,200 total in a two-year election cycle.

•  Before these limits were imposed in 1974, individuals often gave larger amounts.

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PAC Contributions

•  More than 4,000 political action committees (PACs) are active today:

•  Most represent special interest groups such as business associations and labor unions. They can raise money only from members.

•  Other PACs are unconnected committees that can raise money from the public.

•  No PAC can give more than $5,000 to a candidate in a primary or general election. But a PAC can give to as many candidates as it chooses and give up to $15,000 a year to a political party.

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Public Funding •  The Presidential Election Campaign Fund,

established in 1971, uses taxpayer money to help fund pre-convention campaigns, national party conventions, and presidential election campaigns.

•  The system is set up so that only candidates with national organizations can qualify for funding.

•  If a presidential candidate accepts public funding for the general election, his or her campaign cannot take funds from any other source and is limited in what it can spend.

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Hard and Soft Money

•  Federal law puts limits on hard money: •  contributions given directly to candidates.

•  In the 1980s, the major parties began raising millions in unregulated soft money: •  funds given to parties or political organizations.

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Hard and Soft Money

•  In 2002, the McCain-Feingold Law banned soft-money contributions to political parties.

•  But independent political groups, often called “527s,” still can and do raise millions in soft money.