The US Election Process

Electoral College Map. Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

We are nearing election time and I feel it will be important to share information on how elections really happen. Most Americans do not understand and certainly my overseas friends find it all very confusing. You see, in any election there can be a mountain of information that one has to climb in order to successfully vote, like: When can I vote? Where do I find my voting district information? When are the election dates? Who do I vote for? And why am I really voting? The list goes on.

A few days ago, I wrote about the implementation of the Electoral College, what it is and how it’s used. If you’re a first time visitor to my newsletter, you should go here first to catch up on the process. Our electoral process can be very confusing and as I’ve said before - there really should be Civics classes coupled with American Government classes.

We all know about the Presidential vote, held every 4 years, on 5 November however, there are lesser known voting contests that are as equally important (this is called “down ballot voting), and we’ll come back to that, but what you need to know is how the candidates - both local and national- are chosen.

PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES

The US is made up of 50 states and 8 territories (or Insular Areas and Free Associated States). Those 8 territories are: Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Republic of the Marshall Islands, US Virgin Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. (Source: US Dept. of the Interior)

The 50 states and 8 territories hold either a primary or caucus to pick the nominees to hold local and state elections. They are all held at different times according to their state/territorial laws. And they all will have a delegate/superdelegate at the Presidential coventions.

What Is A Caucus?

Simply put, a caucus is a meeting of party leaders or party members to select candidates, elect convention delegates, and establish the party’s policy position on specific issues. The state caucuses are: Maine, Kansas, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, and, most prominently, Iowa. 

What Is A Primary?

A primary is a preliminary election in which voters of each party nominate candidates for office - A voter goes to polls and casts their ballot for who they want to be the candidate for their party in the general election. The word ultimately comes from the Latin primus, meaning “first,” a reference to the order it takes in the election process—it comes first, before the general.

But to complicate things further, some states hold a mixture of both caucuses and primaries and using them for different voting parts of the voting system. This can be caucusing only to pick delegates for a convention or like Kentucky who uses both for different party affiliations - Republicans use caucuses but Democrats use primaries.

Then there are the different types of primaries. Texas has “open primaries” which means for example, that a Republican in Texas could vote for the Democratic presidential nominee. States like Pennsylvania hold “closed primaries’ - the citizens can only vote for nominees of their own party. California holds “nonpartisan” or “jungle primary” - primaries where all the nominees are on one ballot - they are NOT separated by party and the top two nominees with the most votes get to run in a primary against each other, regardless of party.

All those caucuses and primaries are used to fill local seats but ultimately lead to the picking of delegates to represent each state and territory for the Presidential Election.

DELEGATES vs SUPERDELEGATES

To thoroughly complicate the election process even further - and you ask, is it possible to complicate the process more that it already is - the answer is YES…because the Republicans and the Democrats have different RULES for choosing a nominee for their party.

As a whole, both political parties, during a presidential election, pick their nominee at a national convention - aptly named the DNC for Democrats and the RNC for Republicans. Their nominees are whomever wins the majority of that party’s delegates.

Delegates (What They Are)

A delegate a person designated to act for or represent another or others, especially a representative at a political convention—such as at the Democratic or Republican National Convention.

These delegates are members of a political party and can include, local politicians, early supporters of a candidate and other activists. Most delegates represent a congressional district and they pledge their support and campaign for a nominee and then work to get chosen to be a part of their state’s delegation.

Superdelegates (What They Are)

A superdelegate is party leader or elected public official (or PLEO’s) chosen as an uncommitted delegate to a national political convention.

Superdelegates are “uncommitted” because they can vote for whichever candidate they want regardless of the outcome of the primaries—a status designated by that prefix super-, meaning “above” or “beyond.” These superdelegates include members of Congress and governors as well as former party leaders.

In the Democratic party, there has long been controversy over superdelegates because they can support a candidate even if the public does not. They are at the center of a debate over the “degree of influence”primary voters have compared to the “degree of influence that party insiders have in choosing a nominee, and thus superdelegates are felt to possess undue power.

Now for as long as I have been voting - some 40 years - I have never known who my state delegates/superdelegates are. You cannot find them listed as such - there is no delegate/superdelegate database. You have to “trust’ that whoever your state delegates are, they will vote in your interest. But can you really extend that kind and type of trust to someone you don’t know or maybe never met? This why I say the Electoral College needs to bite the dust. We should move to a Popular Voting system - One Man, One Vote. I will keep saying this until it happens or until I am 6 feet under - whichever comes first.

I told you that I would explain the importance of voting in your local elections - Down Ballot voting - let me give you an example:

A few years back, my city voted in a young, progressive District Attorney and he believed that arresting people for small amounts of marijuana was not only senseless, but a waste of the judicial system’s time, money and effort. Making arrests, housing the offenders, going to court to adjudicate the cases - he believed that the City’s resources could be put to better use. Also small-time marijuana drug cases dis-proportionally affect Brown and Black populations, who could ill afford the costs of such offenses (read cash bail system, court costs and fees, along with probationary rules and regulations - like paying restitution and/or doing community service, (which can end up with a person having to take time off from work).

Last year the City held a “special primary” to chose another City DA because the one we voted in was challenged. The challenger had many negative things to say about our elected DA and even lobbed a few accusations against him - mostly about how he has allowed crime to increase - among other things. The challenger won that special primary and our City lost that young, progressive DA - he resigned.

The challenger was endorsed by the Governor of Texas however, it is felt among some of the citizenry, that the challenger is unqualified and has deeper issues in his newly gained position.

This is why you should try to pay attention to your local elections and try to inform yourself of the issues and policies that your local officials have. Learn when your local elections are held and vote, vote, vote. It is a well known fact that Democrats are less likely to vote in local/state elections but Republicans come out in droves.

A few pieces of housekeeping:

1. If you are an American citizen, please check your voter registration says you are eligible to vote. I received an email last night that reports some voters are finding when they check the status of their voter registration, some have found they are either suspended or have been purged from the voter rolls. You can usually do this by checking the back of your voter card or by calling your local Office of the Registrar’s office.

2. If you have moved recently and need to update your address, again contact your local Registrar’s office. You are required to have your voter registration correct and completed within 30 days of an election. You do not want to get to your polling station and not have all your information match the voter rolls. The poll workers cannot help in this instance. Make sure that your driver’s license is not expired and if you have married or divorced (for those living in states that require ID to vote) that the information on your DL matches. Inform your children if they are first time voters to check that they met eligibility requirements also.

3. I do not tell you this to frighten you, but this presidential election may come down to just a few 1000 votes for your candidate, and you may not wish to be the one voter who’s vote does not count.

Personal Housekeeping:

I will not be filming the August 2024 Tarot readings and posting them to my channel this month due to physical reasons. Do expect September 2024 readings to be filmed and uploaded.

I hope that you find this article helpful in explaining the US’s election process. It is a very complicated system, but for better of for ill, it is the only system we have - for now.

Until next time.

Be Good to yourselves.

Tara, xx