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.