Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
Unit III – The Electoral Process
I.
The Nominating Process
A. A Critical First Step
 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.
 How does the nominating process have a big impact on our right to vote?
 In 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.
 What is a general election?
B. Self Announcement
 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.
 The method is quite simple – a person announces they want to run for office
 Who uses the self-announcement nomination?
C. The Caucus
 Caucus is 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.
 What happened when political parties started appearing?
 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.
 They were practical in their day because of transportation and
communication issues.
 As democracy spread, why did opposition grow to the caucus?
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
 The caucus is still used to make local nominations (New England) and is open
to all members of a party.
D. The Convention
 As the caucus method collapsed, the convention system took its place.
 Who had the 1st national convention to nominate a presidential candidate?
 =
 All major-party presidential nominees have been chosen by conventions.
 On paper, the convention process seems perfectly suited to representative
government.
 The process begins in local caucus and works its way up to through the
country, state and then the national level.
 Who 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.
E. The Direct Primary
 A direct primary is an intra-party election to pick that party’s candidate for the
general election.
 Wisconsin was the first state to use it in 1903 and many state followed.
 State laws require that the major parties use the primaries to choose their
candidates for the Senate, House, governorship, etc.
1. The Closed Primary
 DEFINE


27 states and the District of Columbia use the closed primary.
Party membership is established by registration in the party.
2. The Open Primary
 DEFINE



Found in 23 states
Through 2000, 3 states have used a different version of the open primary
called the blanket primary – all voters receive same ballot and can vote
for any party for any office they like.
What happened to California’s version of the blanket primary?
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
3. Closed vs. Open Primary
 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?

Critics of the closed primary argue:
 It compromises the secrecy of the ballot
 It tends to exclude independent voters from the nomination process.

Can the open primary solve these problems:
For the open primary
Against the open primary
4. The Runoff Primary
 Most states requires a plurality (greatest amount) of votes to win
 In 11 states an absolute majority (more than 50%) is needed to carry a
primary.
 How does the runoff primary work?
5. The Nonpartisan Primary
 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.
6. Evaluation of the Primary
 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.
 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)
 What is the ‘divisive effect’ on the party?
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
 Many voters are not well informed on the candidates, so name
familiarity is key because it gives a contender an age.
7. The Presidential Primary
 Is an election that is held as one part of the process by which presidential
candidates are chosen.
 Very complex process (we will look at in later chapter)
F. Petition
 One other nominating method that is used fairly widely at the local level in
American politics – nomination by petition.
 Candidates for public are nominated by means of petitions signed by a certain
number of required qualified voters in the election district.
 When is this method used?
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
II.
Elections
A. The Administration of Elections
 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.
1. Extent of Federal Control
 Most election law the US is State law, but the Constitution does give
Congress some power over elections:
 IDENITFY

Help Americans Vote Act of 2002 – expanded federal election power
 Why did Congress pass this bill?
 Some of the major provisions of the bill (p.189):
- replace lever-operated and punch-card voting devices by 2006
- upgrade their administration of elections
- What is provisional voting?
2. When Elections are Held
 Congress set the date for national elections (Tuesday after the 1st Monday
in November) and States hold their elections on the same date.
 What is the explanation for this?
3. Early Voting
 Most states make provision for absentee voting – voting by those unable
to get to their regular polling places on election day.
 There are (3) groups of potential voters that election laws focus on:
i.
ii.
iii.

Some states have allowed for early voting in an effort to increase voter
turnout and make voting more convenient.
4. The Coattail Effect
 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.
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter


Usually most apparent in presidential elections, but a popular candidate
for Senator or governor can have the same effect.
What is a ‘reverse’ coattail effect?
B. Precincts and Polling Places
 A precinct is a voting district.
 Smallest geographic units for elections.
 What are the sizes of precincts?
 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: IDENTIFY some of the responsibilities of the board:
 Poll watchers (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.
C. Casting the Ballot
 DEFINE ballot
 Each State now provides for a secret ballot; ballots are cast in such a manner
that others cannot know how a person voted.
 Over the history of the United States voting has taken many shapes (voice, paper
ballots) and corruption led to a demand for ballot reforms.
1. The Australian Ballot
 First used in an election in Victoria, Australia in 1856 and its success
there led to its use in other countries
 What are the (4) essential features of this ballot:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
2. The Office-Group Ballot
 The original form of the Australian ballot or sometimes called the
Massachusetts ballot because of its early use (1888) there.

How are the candidates grouped on this ballot?
3. The Party-Column Ballot
 Also known as the Indiana ballot from its early use (1889) in that state.
 It lists each party’s candidates in a column under the party’s name
 What is an argument for and against this ballot?
4. Sample Ballots
 Can help voters prepare for an election – they are mailed in some states
and appear in newspapers in others.
5. Bedsheet Ballots
 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.
 When and why was its origin?

Critics say it is hard to know the candidates and their qualifications on
such a long ballot – thus it is bad for democracy.
D. Automated Voting
 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
1. Electronic Vote Counting
 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.
 What was the major problem of the punch-card ballots?
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter


The use of punch-card ballots must be ended by 2006, due to the Help
Americans Vote Act of 2002 after the 2000 presidential election mess.
What are most states now turning to for more efficient EDP-based voting
systems?
2. Vote-by-Mail Elections
 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?
Critics of:
Supporters of:
3. Online Voting
 Casting ballots via the Internet has attracted considerable attention in the
past few years.
 There have been some votes cast on-line in the past several years:
 Astronaut emailed a vote in from space, Democratic presidential
primary in Arizona, military abroad…
Critics of:
Supporters of:
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
III.
Money and Elections
A. Campaign Spending
 The presidential election eats up by the largest share of campaign dollars - $1.5
billion for primaries and general election in 2000.
 The cost of congressional campaigns also continues to climb each cycle.
 Where is all this money being spent?
B.
Sources of Funding
1. Private and Public Sources
 Private givers have always been the major sources of campaign funds an
they come in various shapes and sizes:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

Small contributors – $5 or $10; only about 10% of the population
Wealthy individuals and families – make large donations because it
may be in their interest.
Candidates, their families and people who want to keep appointed
offices. Ross Perot spent $65 million of his own money.
What is a PAC?
Temporary organizations - groups formed for the immediate
purpose of a campaign, including fund raising.
How do parties attempt to raises money?
2. Why People Give
 Campaign donations are a form of political participation and those who
make them do so for several reasons:
 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:
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
C. Regulating Campaign Finances
 Congress first began to regulate the use of money in federal election in 1907 and
since then, Congress has passed (4) major campaign finance laws.
 Congress does not have the power to regulate state and local elections – that is
up to each individual state.
D. The Federal Election Commission
 The Federal Election Commission (FEC) administers all federal law dealing with
campaign finance
 It was set up in 1974 (after Watergate) and it an independent agency with 6
members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
 Why is it hard for the FEC to do an effective job?
1. Disclosure Requirements
 Disclosure requirements are intended to spotlight the place of money in
federal campaigns.
 What types of contributions are prohibited?

Legal contributions are to be strictly accounted for:
 Made through a single campaign committee, which can only spend
that candidate’s campaign money.
 All contributions and spending must be closely accounted for.
 What about the disclosure of contributions or loans?
2. Limits on Contributions
 Today, limits are set at $2000 to candidate (primary and general
election), $5000 to a PAC or $25,000 to a national party committee.
 What is the limit for an individual in an election cycle to all federal
candidates combined?
3. PAC Contributions
 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.
 There are some 4000 registered PACs – IDENTIFY some major PACs
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter



PACs fill their campaign war chests with contributions from their
members and then bundle them into a single large fund.
Who do PACs give their money to?
There are monetary limits in a cycle, but the big difference for a PAC
compared to an individual is that there is no overall limit on how much a
PAC can give to a number of candidates.
4. Limits on Expenditures
 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?

The most important provisions that the Court threw out were:
 Limited campaign expenditures for those running for Congress
 Limited how much of their own money a candidate could spend
 $1000 max on a federal candidate without candidate’s permission

What was one exception to the ban that the Court did recognize?
5. Public Funding of Presidential Campaigns
 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:
Preconvention Campaigns


National Conventions
Presidential campaigns
A minor party can also qualify for public funding by (1) getting 5% of
popular voter in last presidential election; (2) win 5% of that in the current
presidential election.
This does not happen often; in recent years John Anderson 1976 and Ross
Perot in 1992 did receive Federal matching funds after the elections.
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Unit 3 – Test #3 1st Quarter
E.
Hard Money, Soft Money
 Hard money = money raised and spent to elect candidates to Congress and the
White House.

There have been limits placed on ‘hard money’ by federal campaign
finance laws for nearly 30 years.
 Soft money = funds given to party organization for such “party-building
activities” as candidate recruitment, voter registration and
‘get-out-the vote drives’, and similar efforts

When did ‘soft money’ begin to be limited?

Both major parties began raising millions of dollars in soft money during
the 1980s and by 2000 many believed more campaign finance reform was
needed.
 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
 Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold were instrumental in the
passage of this bill.
 Major provision was the banning of soft money contributions to political
parties.
 When did it begin?
 Just how effective the new law will be remains to be seen, of course.
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