L2 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM: MAKING VOTES COUNT

Understanding the document:

- What is the journalist’s opinion of the Electoral College?

The journalist thinks that the Electoral College system has many flaws and that it should be abolished.  “There should be a bipartisan movement for direct election of the president.”

- What arguments does he put forward to justify his position?

·      The Winner-takes-All system does not take account of the minority vote in each state.

·      A candidate may become President without having won the popular vote.

·      The system creates another form of distortion in favour of small states as they are allocated at least three electors and as such are over-represented.

·      The campaign does not focus equally on the needs of Americans in every state: the outcome of the election depends on a handful of swing states. As a consequence, the needs of many Americans are ignored whereas candidates focus excessively on the needs of voters in a few states only (“focus their attention, money and promises on a small slice of the electorate”)

ê This situation does not encourage people to develop an interest in the campaign or to go to the polls (“removes the incentive for a large part of the population to follow the campaign, or even to vote”)

·      Because electors do not have to vote for the candidates they are pledged to, the defection of a “faithless elector” may have severe consequences. It could cause other electors to defect and if the vote is close in the Electoral College, this could upset the outcome of the election.

·      If both candidates obtain the same amount of electoral votes, the House of Representatives is in charge of selecting the president. According to the procedure, each state has one vote, no matter the size of its population.

- Explain why the state of Florida is so important for candidates.

Cf. Florida is a swing state and as such focuses the attention of both candidates for the presidency.

3. Explain the following expressions:

- In paragraph 1: “a surefire blue state”: a state that is certain to vote for the Democrats

- In paragraph 4: “a swing state”: a large state with a significant number of electors, which alternates between support for Democrats and Republicans and where the outcome of the election is difficult to predict (ex: Florida).

- In paragraph 4: “The interests of people from Puerto Rico scarcely come up at all”: the candidates pay little attention to the interests of the Puerto Rican community because a significant part of this community lives in the State of New York where a majority of voters traditionally vote in favour of the Democratic candidate. Therefore candidates are not inclined to spend time and money courting the votes of Puerto Ricans. The Democratic candidate therefore does not need these votes.
For a Republican candidate on the other hand had better focus his campaign on swing states where the votes of a voting minority can help him carry those states. 

L2 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM: Terminology

Terminology:

Exercise 1: In the text above, find translations or synonyms for the following words.

a. Translations	b. Synonyms
Colistier : a running mate	Disloyal: faithless
Un scrutin : a ballot	To abandon: to drop out
Faire prêter serment à quelqu’un: to swear someone in	A list (of candidates): a slate
Années paires : even years	To compose: to make up
Années impaires : odd years	To necessitate: to require
Un serment : an oath	A draw: a tie
Un grief, une plainte : a grievance	A result: the outcome of the election
Préciser : to specify	To swear, to commit oneself: to pledge

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks in the article with the twenty words listed below.

battleground / delegates / economic / Vice President / running mate / term / chairman / establishment / unemployment / Medicare / swing / percent / Convention / fall / vowing / pick / nomination / spending / cheered / surveys

Mitt Romney Announces Paul Ryan As Vice Presidential Running Mate

By Kasie Hunt

The Huffington Post, August 11, 2012

NORFOLK, Va. — Republican Mitt Romney anointed Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, an ardent conservative and devoted budget cutter, as his vice presidential 1 running mate on Saturday, and the two men immediately embarked on a tour of campaign battleground states 2 vowing to defeat President Barack Obama and repair the long-ailing U.S. economy.

America is "a nation facing debt, doubt and despair," and a transformative change in leadership is vital, Ryan declared to a flag-waving crowd in the first moments after Romney introduced him as his partner for the 3 fall campaign.

"Regrettably, President Obama has become part of the problem... and Mitt Romney is the solution," said the seven-term lawmaker, who at 42 is a generation younger than Romney, 65. Ryan is 4 chairman of the House Budget Committee, the chief architect of deeply controversial budget plans and widely viewed by Republican lawmakers as an intellectual leader within the party.

The two Republican ticket mates basked in the cheers of supporters in a made-for-television debut on a ticket hoping to make Obama's first term his last. "I did not make a mistake with this guy," Romney exulted. Romney declared that in the campaign to come, Republicans will present 5 economic solutions "that are bold, specific and achievable. (…) We offer our commitment to help create 12 million new jobs and to bring better take-home pay to middle class families."

The party 6 establishment, rank-and-file conservatives and tea party groups all 7 cheered the pick made by Romney, whose own record as a moderate during his term as Massachusetts governor less than a decade ago made his march to the presidential nomination an uneven one.

Obama's campaign didn't wait long to respond. It criticized the budget blueprints Ryan has authored, particularly his recommendations to fundamentally remake Medicare and cut $ 5.3 trillion in government 8 spending over the coming decade.

Ryan joins a race that has been defined from the beginning by a weak economy and high 9 unemployment measured most recently at 8.3 10 percent in July. Even so, recent national polls as well as 11 surveys in several 12 battleground states indicate a narrow advantage for Obama.

While Romney's 13 pick unified Republicans, the impact in 14 swing states such as Florida, Iowa and Pennsylvania was an open question. All are home to large numbers of seniors whose reaction to Ryan's prescription for 15 Medicare is certain to be tested by Democrats.

Ryan's selection as well as Romney's own 16 nomination will be ratified by 17 delegates to the Republican National 18 Convention that begins on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.

Obama and 19 Vice-President Joe Biden will be nominated for a second 20 term at the Democratic convention the following week. The vice president called Ryan to congratulate him on his selection, the president's campaign said.

The GOP ticket made its debut at a naval museum in Norfolk, Va., opening stop of a long-planned bus tour through four states in as many days. A trip to Ryan's home state was added to previously scheduled appearances in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.

L2 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM: Electing a U.S. President in Plain English

L2 Chapter 4 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM, Translation

1.
California is the most populated state of the USA. As a consequence, it is the state that has the most electors / that has the greatest number of electoral votes.
2.
Texas also plays an important part in the election but it is not as populated as California. Consequently, there are fewer electors in Texas than in California.
3.
Since there are as many electors in each state as there are senators and representatives, the state the least populated / the smallest state / the least populated state cannot have less than three electors.
4.
According to some political analysts / commentators, the Democratic candidate is more likely to win the election than his Republican rival.
5.
Super Tuesday is probably the most important moment of the primaries.

L2 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM: Extra resources, The Primary Elections

Extra Resources

The Primary Elections:

Originally, choosing who would represent the party in the election was the only prerogative of party members who gathered at party conventions. However, the lack of transparency, as well as the fact that ordinary voters had no say in the selection of their candidate, led to the progressive institutionalization of primary elections. A few states organized the first primaries as early as the beginning of the 20^th century. But this system truly developed in the wake of the Second World War, and has become the main mode of selection of candidates since 1968. Because the procedures regulating primary elections are specific to each party at state level, rules from one state to another may vary quite significantly. But in essence, we can distinguish between three types of primary elections.

a.     Primaries and Caucuses

Only voters who are registered as members of the party can take part in closed primaries. (For instance, only Republicans may vote in Republican primaries.) Such primaries are sometimes considered to be quite restrictive as they prevent voters who are not affiliated to any party from taking part in the primaries.

Therefore, another type of primaries also enables independent voters to take part in the selection of the candidate of the party, while voters registered with a party may only vote in that party’s primary election. We talk about semi-closed primaries.

Finally, open primaries allow voters, regardless of party affiliation, to vote in the primaries that they wish. Open primaries are certainly the most flexible, but they also allow for a tactic called “party crashing”. For example, if no Democratic primaries are organized in a given state or if there is no real suspense as to who will win the Democratic primaries, a Democratic voter would then be free to take part in the Republican primaries. If he wishes to do so, this voter could vote for a particularly weak candidate from the rival party who would then be easier to defeat in the general election. Technically however, if Democratic and Republican primaries are organised in the same state, voters from that state may only take part in one primary election. 

Finally, caucuses are another method used to select candidates. Again procedures vary according to state law and political parties. In most states, such as Iowa, voters meet in private homes and other public buildings to discuss the campaign and the different candidates. They then elect delegates to county conventions who in turn elect delegates for state conventions where the delegates for the national convention are chosen. At democratic caucuses, voters sometimes publicly divide into groups, gathering in different corners of a room to demonstrate their support for a particular candidate. The smallest group is then eliminated and the supporters of other candidates try to convince the members to join their respective groups to increase support in favour of their candidate. When there is a clear winner, delegates are then allocated accordingly. At Republican caucuses the selection of delegates is usually made by secret ballot. The results of the ballot determine who the delegates will be.

As primaries and caucuses are organized by each party independently at state level, Republican and Democratic primaries in a same state do not have to take place on the same day. The selection of one party’s nominee could be made by a caucus, whereas the other party’s nominee could be chosen by a closed or an open primary.

Moreover, primaries are not held across the USA at the same time, but span a period of several months, starting in January and ending in June. The first results are very important and early primaries generate significant media coverage. Since 1988, many states have agreed to organize their primaries simultaneously on the same day. This event referred to as “Super Tuesday” is the most important moment of the primaries.

b.     The National Convention

At primary elections and caucuses, voters actually do not vote for their candidate directly. Instead they vote for delegates who are local party members or state officials, who will in turn vote for their candidate. Depending on the states, delegates are either pledged delegates and have to vote for the candidate they promised they would support, or unpledged, in which case they are free to vote for whoever they please. 

The next step leads all the candidates of the party to a National Convention. Each party has its own convention. In 2012, the Republican National Convention was held at the end of August, in Tampa, Florida, while the Democratic Convention took place a week later in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The National Convention is where all the delegates gather and vote in favour of their candidate. In addition, delegates are also joined by superdelegates, who are national party officials who have not been elected in the primaries. Indeed, superdelegates are meant to represent the party establishment, not the population, and as such are also free to vote for whoever they wish.

Usually, during the primary election phase, many candidates progressively drop out of the race and the major contender for each party is known by the month of June. Therefore there is no real suspense as to who the party candidate will be by the time the process reaches the National Convention stage. The point of the Convention is primarily to show the strength and the high morale of the party before the real election begins. But this is not always the case, and when two contenders are still in competition, the votes of the superdelegates bring a real element of uncertainty as to who the candidate will be.  

The National Convention is also a major stage of the campaign as it is where the newly elected official candidate of the party traditionally announces who his running mate will be. The running mate is the candidate for the Vice-Presidency. Together they form what is called the ticket. One strategy for the nominee may be to choose the other major contender in the primary elections in order to secure as many votes as possible. However, in 2008, although Hillary Clinton had been a serious rival of Barak Obama’s in the primaries, the latter finally chose Joe Biden as his running mate. Once Obama was elected he appointed H. Clinton as Secretary of State, which is a key position in the administration. Indeed, the role of the running mate is also often to counterbalance the candidate’s personality or background, in order to court a section of the electorate that would not spontaneously be inclined to vote for the official candidate of the party. This could explain John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin in 2008.

L2 THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM: Extra resources, grammar and vocabulary

Grammar:

Comparatives and superlatives

This section gives an overview of the basic rules related to the construction of comparatives and superlatives. For a more detailed presentation of this grammatical point (notably with regard to exceptions and specific cases), you may wish to consult a grammar book such as S. Berland-Delépine, La grammaire anglaise de l’étudiant, Ophrys.

Ø  Comparatives :

Superiority 

o   For short words (i.e. One syllable or two-syllable words ending in “y”):

ê Use: Adj.+ er + than

Ex: Texas is bigger than New Hampshire.

o   For longer adjectives (i.e. Two syllables or more) or adverbs ending in “ly” (“slowly”, “seriously”):

ê Use: More + Adj. + than

Ex: The presidential election is more captivating this year than it was four years ago.

N.B.: Two-syllable adjectives are generally considered as:

- Short, if they end in “y” (pretty ê prettier ê prettiest), in “er” (clever), in “le” (gentle), or in “low” (narrow, shallow)

- Long, if they end in “ful” (useful, careful), “ish” (bookish), “ive” (active), “id” (vivid), or if they are formed with the prefix “a” (alone, afraid)

o   Comparative structure with a noun:

ê Use: More + noun

Ex: Texas gets more electors than North Dakota.

o   Comparative structure with a verb:

ê Use: Verb+ noun

Ex: I work more than my friend (does).

Equality:

ê Use: As + Adj. + As

Ex: She is as tall as her brother / She is as intelligent as her brother.

Inferiority:

ê Less + Adj. + than  

Ex: Dick is less tall than John.

Ex: Nebraska is much less populated than Illinois. / Nebraska is far less populated than Illinois.

or

ê Not as + Adj. + as

Ex: Vermont isn’t as populated as Maine.

Ø  Superlatives

Superiority:

o   For short words (i.e. One syllable or two-syllable words ending in “y”):

ê Use: Adj.+ est

Ex: It is the toughest campaign that I have ever seen.

o   For longer adjectives (i.e. Two syllables or more)

ê Use: the most

Ex: He is the most popular of all the candidates.

Inferiority:

ê Use: The least

Ex: The candidate the least likely to win the election became the new President.

Ø  Some adjectives and adverbs have irregular comparative and superlative forms:

- Good / well ê (comp.) better ê (sup.) the best

- Bad / badlyê (comp.) worse ê (sup.) the worst

- Far ê (comp.) farther / further ê (sup.) the farthest / the furthest

When talking about distances, both “farther” or “further” may be used. But only “further” may be used in the sense of “more or additional” in a more abstract context.

Ex: “For further information on Government policy, please contact the Press Officer”.

- Old ê (comp.) older ê (sup.) the oldest

When talking about people and family members, “elder” / “the eldest” are also used.

Ex: Bill has two sisters. His elder sister is called Sarah. Claire is younger than Bill. So Sarah is the eldest of the three.

But you can’t say “Sarah is elder than Bill and Claire”. “Sarah is older than Bill and Claire” is the correct form.

Ø  Progression: 

Ex: The campaign is getting tougher and tougher everyday.

Ex: Opponents of the Electoral College system are getting more and more vocal all the time.

Ex: The TV show is becoming less and less interesting.

Ø  Parallel progression:

“The more, the merrier”, “The sooner, the better”, “The less said about it, the better”

N.B.: Each proposition starts with the adjective in the comparative form.

Ex: The more the candidate campaigns, the more support he musters.

Ø   “All the more” (…) “as”

Ex: He felt all the more depressed as all his friends were away.

Ex: I was all the less surprised as I have known him for years.

Ø  “Twice as” / “half as”

Ex: This house costs twice as much as the apartment we visited this morning.

Ex: There are twice as many people tonight as there were at last night’s meeting.

Ex : This conference room is half as big as the one in New York / It is half the size of the one in New York / It is twice as small as the one in New York.

Ø  The first paragraph, the second paragraph (…)

N.B.: The last paragraph, the second last paragraph.

The candidate from the South obtained the second best score.

Other grammatical points:

Ø   

- Nevada's 2.2 million residents (from the text “Making votes count”)

- Jim owes Tom three thousand dollars. (= $ 3000)

- Betty bought three dozen eggs. (= 3 x 12)

- Two hundred people attended the conference (= 200 people)

N.B.: in this structure there is no “s” and no preposition “of”.

≠

- Dozens of representatives: (“des douzaines de”)

- There were thousands of people at the party meeting (“des millions de”)

Ø   

- “Article II of the Constitution” but “The second article of the Constitution”

- “During World War II” but “During the Second World War”

- “In paragraph 3” but “In the third paragraph”

Ø  When a name is preceded by the function or the title of the person, use no article:

-       “Ø President Obama” = “The President of the United States”

-       “Ø Vice President Joe Biden” = “The Vice President of the United States”

Ø  Every + singular:

- “Every vote is equal” / “every other year” (Ex: Representatives in Congress seek re-election every other year.)

- But: “Every four years”

Glossary:

To fight a campaign

The electorate: all the people in a country who are entitled to vote in an election

To canvass: to solicit votes from voters or to question people to obtain their opinion on a specific question

To be / to go on the stump: to be engaged in political campaigning

To take the stump ó to go to the country ó to hit the campaign trail

To address public meetings

To barnstorm: make a rapid tour as part of a political campaign

To woo voters: to court voters

A smear: a false accusation ê “a smear campaign”

Grassroots: the most basic level of an activity or organization ê ordinary people regarded as the main body of an organization’s membership ê “a grassroots campaign”

The party establishment (ó party leaders) ≠ the rank-and-file

To pull in votes: to win votes

To muster 5% of the votes: to succeed in collecting 5% of the votes

The Primaries ó the primary elections (open primaries ≠ closed primaries)

A caucus ê (pl.) caucuses

Super Tuesday

A delegate ê pledged delegates ≠ unpledged delegates

A superdelegate

The National Convention

The nominee: the official candidate of the party (once he has been official chosen by the national party convention) ê nomination

A voting system

A ballot: a system or occasion of secret voting

A ballot slip: the piece of paper on which one votes

An unmarked ballot: a blank vote

A ballot box: a sealed box into which voters put completed ballot papers

A two stage election ó a two-tier election ó a two round system

A first round ó A first ballot

Polling day ó election day ê (phr.) to go to the polls

A polling station: a place where people go to vote in an election
A polling booth: a small area partitioned on three sides in a polling station where you can vote in private

To cast a vote: to vote

The turnout: the number of people taking part in an election ê a low turnout ≠ a high turnout

Even years (2004, 2006, 2008…) ≠ odd years (2005, 2007, 2011…)

The franchise: the right to vote in public elections

To enfranchise / enfranchisement ≠ to disenfranchise (also, to disfranchise)

An opinion poll ó a survey

An exit poll: an opinion poll of people leaving a polling station, asking how they voted

A pollster: a person who conducts or analyses opinion polls

The electors: the members of the Electoral College

The winner-takes-all system

A faithless elector
A Census: an official count or survey of a population

The presidential race

An incumbent president: a president currently holding office

To run for president

The running mate

The ticket

A contender: a challenger, a competitor

The front-runner: the candidate who is leading in the race

The runner-up: the candidate taking second place

An underdog: a candidate thought to have little chance of winning the election

To endorse a candidate: to proclaim one’s support in favour of a candidate publicly

A blue state: a traditionally Democratic state

A red state: a state that usually votes for the Republican Party

A swing state: a large state with a significant number of electors, which alternates between support for Democrats and Republicans and where the outcome of the election is difficult to predict

To tally the votes: to count, to add up the votes

To carry a state: to win a majority of votes in a state

To pull off a victory ó to carry the day: to win an election.

A landslide victory (ê to win by a landslide) ≠ a narrow victory, a scant victory

A tie óa draw

The President-elect

To swear someone in ó to be sworn in ê the swearing-in ceremony

To take the oath of office

A term of office

A mandate: the authority to carry out a policy or course of action regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election

To hand over power to someone

To come to power = to take office

To leave office

To retire from politics