Campaigns Elections and Voting

Political Participation:

• Taking actions to influence politics

Examples:

Voting

Going to a rally/protest

Volunteering for a campaign

Donating to a campaign

Running for office / working full time in politics

Voting In the U.S:

• Free elections are a necessary condition for a democratic form of government – the people (voters) vote for their preferred candidates to hold public office and represent them in government

• Major changes to enfranchisement:

• 1789: only white property-owning men

• 1820s: expanded to all white men

• 1870: 15thAmendmentt - prohibits the federal government and states from denying a citizen's right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude

• 1877: Jim Crow restrictions (literacy tests, imposing taxes…)

• 1920: 19th Amendment (women’s suffrage)

• 1964: 24th Amendment - abolished and forbids the federal and state governments from imposing taxes on voters during federal elections

• 1965: Voting Rights Act

Principles of democracy Enfranchisement:

• The states are responsible for running elections in their own borders via their Secretaries of State

Modern threats to the franchise:

• Felon disenfranchisement

• Voter identification laws and other “Administrative Burdens”

• Restricted access to polls

• Unwillingness to accept legitimate outcomes

Efforts to expand the franchise:

• Mail voting

• Early voting

• Automatic voter registration

Elections in the U.S:

• American citizens get to participate in politics by voting for candidates on all levels of government

• Federal: President (every 4 years)

House of Representatives (every 2 years)

Senate (depends on the state)

• State: Governor + Treasurer + Comptroller + Attorney General

House of Representatives (Illinois)

Senate (Illinois)

State judges (state supreme court and Illinois appellate court)

County:

• State’s attorney

• County commissioners

• President of the Board of Commissioners

• Clerk

Local:

• Mayor

• Alderpeople

• Judges

Other: referenda

• In conclusion, Americans vote a lot. If it’s Tuesday in the U.S., someone is voting somewhere, unless it’s Christmas

Party Nominations:

• Parties must decide who they are going to run in their name by nominating candidates

This is the Party in the Organization

• The parties also usually help in raising funds for their candidates, mobilizing voters, and running campaign ads

Primary:

• an election to decide who will be the party’s nominee for a certain position

• Most offices use primaries, but political parties can do whatever they want

• After the primaries, the candidates move to run in the general elections against the candidates from the other parties

• In the past, high-level party officials used to nominate candidates with no primary elections - “Smoked Filled Rooms”

• This changed in the early 1970s when primaries were introduced

• More people vote in the general elections than in the primaries of the parties

• This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of primary voters are engaged more ideological and more than normal voters

• The rules are different in every state: in some states only members of the party are allowed to vote in the primary, in other states all voters are allowed to vote in the primaries

Presidential Primaries are often seen as critical in shaping the candidates that will appear on the general election ballot, as they determine the party nominees who will represent each party in the presidential race.

Caucus:

• require voters to physically divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. Undecided participants form their own group

The states go in order, this is the typical order (the parties decide):

• Iowa

• New Hampshire

• Nevada or South Carolina

• All other states

• For the first time in 2024, the Democratic primaries started in South Carolina • Until then, all candidates campaign in the states for the goal of winning the primaries, or to put their faces out there

After the votes are counted, delegates are appointed by the parties. These delegates go to the national party conventions that take place before the elections, and put their vote for the candidate who won their state

• Therefore, presidential candidates are formally nominated in the party convention

• In the past, the competition was over actual votes in the conventions. Today, the winner is known beforehand.

• Party conventions include speeches, shows, public endorsements, and at the end the winning candidate gives a speech to thank the party and officially launch the presidential campaign

The conventions rally support for the party and the candidate – sort of a celebration to launch the campaign

Presidential Elections: The Electoral college:

In the United States presidential elections, the president is not elected based on the national popular vote

• Instead, the Electoral College method is used and candidates must rely on the electoral vote to win

• Each state is granted a certain number of electoral votes based on its population

– the electoral votes are equal to members of the states’ congressional delegation (total of 535)

• The candidate who wins the majority of votes in the state, receives all of its electoral votes.

Except in Nebraska and Maine where the vote is divided

• The candidates must keep winning electoral votes until one of the candidates reaches the majority of 270 votes, then they are declared the winner

The electors in each state are appointed by the parties based on the candidate who won the popular vote in the state

• We usually know which states will vote for which party/candidate in the presidential elections

• The final say stays in the hands of the “swing states” who are not fully Democratic or Republican, but they change their votes between elections

• The swing states in 2024: Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan

There is a whole debate for and against the electoral college:

• Supporters of the college argue that it preserves federalism, ensures representation for smaller states (candidates must appeal to voters across multiple regions rather than just large urban areas), and promotes political stability

• Critics of the college argue that it is undemocratic, it overrepresents less populous states, discourages voter turnout, and can lead to presidents winning without the popular vote

• The electoral college is in the constitution, so any change must pass through a constitutional amendment