The choice of the presidential candidates in the United States appearing on the November ballot is a complex process. The national committees of the Democratic and Republican parties decide what type of process they will use to elect their nominees in each State: caucus or the primary. The votes are translated into delegates from each State. The purpose of the candidates is to accumulate the largest number of delegates to ensure the final nomination in the national convention. Democrats begin this internal race on Monday February 3 in Iowa with former vice president Joe Biden as a favorite.
‘Caucus’ or primary?
The caucus they are citizen assemblies convened by parties in cities, districts or counties, where voters electively choose their candidate to become a delegate. The most politically engaged citizens usually participate, since it implies moving to a place that is not usually near their home.
In the primary, however, the vote is secret and with a defined schedule. This causes that there is a greater influx of voters, but of a less activist profile. For these elections, for example, six states have changed caucus to primary.
Who can vote?
It depends. In the caucus, everybody; but in the primary schools there are four different modalities: open, closed, semi-open and semi-closed.
In the open, anyone who is registered to vote can participate, even if they are not affiliated with any party. The closed ones force the person to be registered in the match. In the semi-open, the party decides whether they should be militants or not and the voter must request the specific ballot for a formation. In semi-closed, they must do the same, but there is no obligation to be registered in a match.
What do delegates do?
In the primary process it is defined how many delegates will support the candidates in the national conventions of both parties. The number of delegates varies by state, but in total the Democrats have 3,979 and the Republicans, with 2,472. For a candidate to obtain delegates, he must have at least 15% of the support.
How are these delegates distributed?
The Democratic Party uses the proportional method. The Republican Party too, but only in some states. In others they use the method winner-take-all. That is, the candidate with the most votes takes all the delegates assigned in that territory. The states that use this model are Florida, Ohio or Montana, among others.
Why is the State of Iowa so important?
Iowa, in the interior of the country, kicks off this election cycle tomorrow. Since 1972, it is the first State to celebrate a caucus and since then its scope and importance have been increasing. For the winners, the media drive is unquestionable.
What is the super Tuesday?
It is the day in which more primary and caucus in the electoral calendar, announcing the results of the election of delegates in at least 14 States. On Tuesday, March 3 (that’s how the super Tuesday this year) there are 1,357 delegates in play for both parties, one third of the total.
What is a superdelegate?
In the national conventions, when determining the final candidate that will represent each party in the fight for the White House, the delegates of both formations will vote according to the will of those who previously participated in the process in the different States.
In this phase a new figure appears: superdelegates. They are usually officials of each party, but there may be some politician. The superdelegates Democrats (718) are free to vote whoever they want, which gives them a greater weight because they can tip the scales among the finalists. The superdelegates Republicans (150), however, must vote for the candidate who obtained the most support in each State.
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