CAMPAIGNS & ELECTIONS

Flashcards for Campaigns & Elections lecture review.

Presidential elections

Elections held every four years on the first Tuesday in November.

Congressional elections

Elections held every two years on the first Tuesday in November.

Midterm elections

Congressional elections held in years without a presidential election.

Primaries

During these elections, parties choose candidates who will run in the general elections

General elections

Determine who gets to hold office and draws the most voters.

Legislative referenda

Legislature refers policy to the public for a popular vote.

Popular referenda and initiative

Citizens petition to place issues on the ballot for a vote.

Recall elections

Citizens vote to remove elected official from office.

Plurality vote

The candidate with the greatest number of votes wins.

Majority vote

To win, the candidate must receive more than 50 percent of the vote.

Redistricting

Legislative districts redrawn every 10 years

Packing

Ramming many voters of one party into a district to dilute their votes in other districts.

Cracking

Tearing up dense pockets of party voters to dilute their votes in that district.

Stacking

Merging two districts of the same party to force incumbents to run against each other.

Advisers

Strategic decisions about organization, budgeting, executing the campaign

Fund-Raisers

Identify donors, find allies for indirect spending

Polling

Test ad messages, find out what voters think of them and opponents

Prospective voting

Voting based on the future.

Retrospective voting

Evaluating past performance by a party or elected official.