[Dragonfly]

I don't understand the Primaries. We don't have them in Canada.
When I watch the news programs, the Primaries seem to be eliminating candidates. However, it is the elections that choose the President.
Can someone explain please?

[KellyB]

here is something that can explain it better than I can


How do primaries work?

Most delegates to both the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 2008 will be chosen via state primaries, held from January to June. Those delegates will pick the parties' nominees for president and vice-president.

A presidential primary is much like a regular election: Voters go to polling places or mail in ballots to choose among candidates in a government-run procedure. The voters actually are selecting national convention delegates, who are required to give their support at the convention to the candidate to whom they are pledged, but only the candidates' names appear on the ballots.

The Democrats will award delegates in proportion to the primary vote for a candidate in a state. For example, if 100 delegates are at stake in a state's primary and Hillary Clinton wins 60 percent of the vote, with Barack Obama getting 25 percent and John Edwards 15 percent, Clinton will get 60 delegates, Obama 25 and Edwards 15.

The Republicans don't have that rule and favor winner-take-all primaries. So if Rudy Giuliani wins 51 percent of the vote in a winner-take-all statewide primary, for example, he'll get all that state's convention delegates.

Delegate-selection rules are generally set by the parties and can vary from state to state. Some, mostly smaller states, allot delegates indirectly via caucuses, which are meetings of voters affiliated with one party. Caucuses feed into district and state conventions, and delegate selection is usually less binding than in a primary.

The Iowa caucus, on Jan. 3, is the first event on the nomination calendar. In Washington state, Democrats will make their initial choices at caucuses Feb. 9, while Republicans will split their process between caucuses on that date and a primary Feb. 19.

Both parties will fill out their conventions with "superdelegates," who are public officials or party officeholders selected by virtue of the positions they hold, and who are not bound to support a particular candidate.

Primaries emerged as a democratic reform in the Progressive era in the early years of the 20th century; Oregon was the first state to enact a primary into law, in 1910.

Primaries waxed and waned in popularity through much of the 20th century: As recently as 1968, the Democrats nominated a presidential candidate, Hubert Humphrey, who did not run in a single primary. Post-1968 reforms have greatly increased the number of primaries.

States have sought to boost their influence in the nominating process by joining in simultaneous regional primaries or by moving their primary date earlier in the year.

The Republican National Committee has voted to strip half the convention delegates from five states that have scheduled primaries before Feb. 5; the Democrats have disqualified all delegates from New Hampshire (Jan. 8 primary) and Florida (Jan. 29 primary).

[Dragonfly]

Thanks for responding - clears things up.
In Canada, we have about 6 parties running for the federal election.
The parties have their own elections - the member of the party vote for the delegate they want to head the party.

As well, we don't vote directly for the person to be Prime Minister. We vote for the member in our riding. The party that wins the most votes, the head of the party becomes Prime Minister.

I assume that Britain's electoral system is the same as ours.

[peachface]

What I don't understand is the differences between primaries and caucuses and why certain states have one over the other, etc. It seems a lot more complicated than the system in Canada...

[KellyB]

Caucuses and primaries are two methods of achieving the same goal, which is assigning delegates to either the Democratic or Republican Party. Those delegates will then vote in each party's convention the summer before elections. Most states use the primary system, which is basically where voters cast a vote to the candidate they support. In a closed primary, voters can only vote within the party they registered under. In an open primary, they are able to vote in whichever party they choose, but are only able to vote in one primary.

The older caucus system, which was used in Iowa, is a bit more complicated. Caucuses are meetings in which voters join groups that support a specific candidate. Supporters of each candidate try to recruit undecided voters into their groups by standing up and speaking in favor of their chosen candidate.

When all the voters have joined a particular candidate's group, party organizers count the number of members within their groups. They then calculate the number of delegates that will represent a candidate to send to each county's convention.

Democrats use a proportional system to determine the number of delegates, which means that the number of delegates they send to their national convention is proportional to the votes they received in their primaries or the support showed in the state's caucus.

The Republican Party either uses this proportional method or a "winner-take-all" method, in which a candidate with the most support gets all of that state's delegates at the national convention. It all depends on the individual state's processes.

Although this lengthy preliminary process may appear to be complex and outdated, it allows those who want to participate in this country's elections to be represented at the national convention.

source

[peachface]

Thanks!!!