The electoral procedure to nominate a candidate for a presidential election is ordinarily called "the primaries," but there are 2 different systems that states employ: caucus and primary.

Unlike a primary, where residents but cast their ballots, a caucus is a local gathering where voters openly decide which candidate to support. The caucus format favors candidates who take a defended and organized post-obit because a pocket-size band of devoted volunteers tin can exert an outsized influence in the open up setting of a caucus.

States choose whether they desire to hold primaries or caucuses. Most states concur primaries but states like Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota and Maine use the caucus system.

Comparison chart

Caucus versus Main comparison chart
Edit this comparison chart Caucus Principal
Who can vote Simply members registered with the political party can participate (if closed system) Depends upon the state. Some states allow only registered political party members to vote; some allow party registrations on the same twenty-four hours; some are completely open up to all residents of the state.
Voting method Voting is conducted at local party meetings and is washed past raising hands or breaking upward into groups. An ballot is held/ secret ballot
States States that utilise the caucus system are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming and Iowa All other states

The Process

Voting in a main or caucus

At a caucus, members of a political party come across in person at an appointed time and location to discuss the candidates and contend their merits. The voting for candidates happens either by raising easily or by separating into groups, with the votes being counted manually by counting the number of supporters of each candidate.

In contrast, a primary is much similar a regular election i.east. depending upon the type of main, those eligible to vote cast a secret ballot.

The conclave arrangement was the original way in which political parties chose candidates. All the same, people began to experience that the secret election was a fairer, more democratic organisation then in the starting time of the 20th century, states began to move to the primary arrangement.

Delegates

At the heart of the electoral process is the system of delegates. Each state has a certain number of delegates that correspond the state at the National Convention of either political party (Democrat or Republican). It is at this consequence that the party's presidential nominee is chosen.

The delegates of each land are "awarded" to one of the presidential candidates and the candidate with the nigh number of delegates on his/her side wins the nomination. Some states use a winner-take-all arroyo and honor all their delegates to the winner of the caucus or primary in that state. Some states honor delegates in proportion to the percentage of votes the candidates receive.

In general, states make up one's mind whether to concord a chief or conclave and this decision applies to both parties. Merely in some cases (for example, Washington) there are variances betwixt the process used by Republican and Democratic parties in the same country.

Another departure is that at that place are some delegates (called unpledged delegates in the Republican organization and superdelegates in the Democratic arrangement) who are non spring by the results of the caucus or principal in their state. They are free to vote for the candidate of their choosing.

Types of Primaries

  • Closed Principal: People may vote in a party'due south primary but if they are registered members of that party. Independents cannot participate.
  • Semi-closed: As in closed primaries, registered political party members can vote merely in their own party's main. Even so it allows unaffiliated voters to participate every bit well. Depending on the country, independents either make their selection of party primary privately, inside the voting berth, or publicly, by registering with any political party on Election Solar day.
  • Open Primary: A registered voter may vote in whatever party main regardless of his own party affiliation. When voters do not register with a party earlier the principal, information technology is called a option-a-political party chief because the voter can select which party's primary he or she wishes to vote in on Election Mean solar day. Because of the open nature of this arrangement, a practise known as raiding may occur. Raiding consists of voters of 1 party crossing over and voting in the master of another political party, finer allowing a party to help cull its opposition's candidate. The theory is that opposing party members vote for the weakest candidate of the opposite party in order to requite their own party the advantage in the general ballot. An example of this can be seen in the 1998 Vermont senatorial main with the nomination of Fred Tuttle every bit the Republican candidate in the general election.
  • Semi-open: A registered voter demand not publicly declare which political party's primary that they volition vote in before entering the voting booth. When voters identify themselves to the ballot officials, they must request a party's specific ballot. But one ballot is cast by each voter. In many states with semi-open primaries, election officials or poll workers from their respective parties record each voter's choice of political party and provide access to this information. The primary difference betwixt a semi-open and open principal system is the apply of a party-specific election. In a semi-open chief, a public declaration in front end of the election judges is made and a party-specific election given to the voter to cast. Certain states that use the open up-primary format may impress a unmarried ballot and the voter must choose on the ballot itself which political party's candidates they volition select for a contested office.
  • Run-off: A primary in which the ballot is not restricted to one political party and the tiptop two candidates accelerate to the full general election regardless of political party amalgamation. (A run-off differs from a principal in that a second round is only needed if no candidate attains a majority in the first circular.)
  • Mixed Systems: In West Virginia, where state law allows parties to make up one's mind whether primaries are open to independents, Republican primaries are open to independents, while Democratic primaries were closed. However, on April 1, 2007, Due west Virginia's Autonomous Party opened its voting to allow "individuals who are not affiliated with any existing recognized party to participate in the election process".

Iowa Conclave and New Hampshire Principal

The Primaries—the procedure of choosing a nominee, whether via a conclave or primary— begin with the Iowa caucuses; they are the first land to agree a caucus. New Hampshire is typically the 2d. Over the years, states have tried to movement upward the date on which they agree the caucus/primary in order to exert an outsize influence on the nominee choice. Candidates who win in early states gain momentum and credibility—both with voters in other states as well as wealthy donors—and for some candidates, a good showing in the early states may even bear witness their viability. For case, many regard Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 Iowa caucus equally the turning bespeak after which Hillary Clinton was no longer considered the inevitable Democratic choice.

On the flip side, Republican conclave-goers in Iowa chose Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008, both candidates who eventually went on to lose the battle for nomination. Similarly, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum were placed #1 and #two respectively in the 2008 New Hampshire primaries for the GOP; neither won the Republican nomination.

State by state information

Usa with caucuses are: Iowa, Nevada, N Dakota , Wyoming and Kentucky (Republican only). American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianas and the US Virgin Islands also apply caucuses to choose delegates.

State Blazon
Alabama Open Chief
Alaska Closed Primary
Arizona Airtight PPE
Arkansas Open up Primary
California Primary
Colorado Semi-closed Master
Connecticut Closed Master
Delaware Closed Master
District of Columbia Primary (Democratic); Caucus (Republican)
Florida Airtight Master
Georgia Open Primary
Hawaii Closed Primary
Idaho Open Main
Illinois Semi-Open up Primary
Indiana Open Primary
Iowa Caucuses
Kansas Closed Primary
Kentucky Closed Primary (Democratic); Caucus (Republican)
Louisiana Closed Chief
Maine Closed Primary
Maryland Closed Primary
Massachusetts Semi-Closed Primary
Michigan Open Master
Minnesota Open Primary
Mississippi Open Primary
Missouri Open Primary
Montana Open up Primary
Nebraska Airtight Primary
Nevada Caucuses
New Hampshire Semi-Open up Primary
New Bailiwick of jersey Primary
New United mexican states Airtight Chief
New York Airtight Main
Northward Carolina Semi-Open Primary
North Dakota Open up Caucuses
Ohio Semi-Open up Main
Oklahoma Airtight Principal
Oregon Closed Main
Pennsylvania Airtight Primary
Rhode Island Master
South Carolina Open Primary
Southward Dakota Closed Primary
Tennessee Open up Primary
Texas Open Main
Utah Closed Primary
Vermont Open Primary
Virginia Open up Primary
Washington Open up Chief
Westward Virginia Closed Master
Wisconsin Open Primary
Wyoming Caucuses

References

  • wikipedia:Caucus
  • wikipedia:Master election
  • wikipedia:Consul
  • Paul Aims to Build on Caucus Background - Wall Street Journal
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