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Elections Process
State and Local Elections
1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November Every year
Sometimes in May–School Levies, City issues
Congressional Elections
Same day every EVEN year
Presidential Elections
Same day – Every Four (4) years
Ballots
Australian Ballot–Printed at Public Expense–All candidates on one ballot–1 ballot per voter–Secret voting
Ballot Types
Party Column Ballot
• Ballot has option for voting only for a specific party– Democrat,
Republican, 3rd parties
• Good for party loyalists
Office Group Ballots
• Ballot is organized by political office– Pres, Governor,
Mayor, Senate, etc.• Good for “split ticket”
voters
Ballot TypesParty Column Ballot Office Group Ballot
Voting Machines and Innovations
Lever machinesElectronic Voting
Paper cards with ink
Punch cards (butterfly ballot)
Touch screenOptical scan
Coattail EffectWhen a candidate’s popularity HELPS
other candidates in his/her party win alsoObama Helped Dems in 2008
FDR helped Democrats win in 1932
Reverse Coattail EffectWhen a candidate/policy lack of
popularity HURTS the chances of others in his/her party
ObamaCare hurt Dems in 2010
Bush Hurt McCain in 2008
Nominating Process ofPolitical Parties
Nominating ProcessMost important function of
partiesFirst step in electing candidates
Sets practical limits on voter choices
Self-Announcement
Announce your own candidacy
Usually no partyRoss Perot, 1992Ralph Nader, 2004
Caucus
Meeting of citizens of one party to case vote for one candidate
Iowa – first caucus, representative of entire nation
The Direct Primary Most similar to an election
Average Voters choose candidate New Hampshire is First state Closed Primary – only registered
party members vote Open Primary – everyone votes
all ballots count Runoff Primary – top two finishers
will compete again
Party Convention
Party members from across the country gather to choose candidates
Week long Media event
Ohio’s Primary System Open Primary
Declare party when you show up Can change parties from year to
year Your party is determined by your
vote Our Presidential Primary is in
March Super Tuesday
Current Nominees for 2016*** As of 4/13/2015***
REPUBLICAN• Ted Cruz – Sen. Texas• Rand Paul – Sen. Kentucky• Mark Rubio – Sen. Florida
DEMOCRAT• Hillary Clinton – former
Sen. NY; former Sec. of State
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