Delegate THIS!

We will be electing a new president in about seven months, and that means we’re right in the middle of the election cycle. So, let’s work backwards to where we are now.  

Before the general election each party will have a nominating convention. At those conventions, delegates will pick who their party’s candidate will be in the general election.  

This year, on the Democrat side, there are approximately 714 super delegates who are unpledged and vote for whomever they want. These people are elected officials and party bigwigs. There are also approximately 4,051 pledged delegates, for a total of approximately 4,765 delegates up for grabs in the 2016 election. To win the nomination a candidate has to have 2,383 total delegates.

On the Republican side, there are approximately 1,305 pledged delegates, 999 unpledged delegates, and 168 party delegates for a total of approximately 2,472 delegates , of which 1,237 are needed to win the nomination.  

If nobody gets the number of delegates needed to win their party’s nomination the convention becomes “contested,” freeing up the pledged delegates and leading to new votes and deal making, until one person amasses enough delegates to get the nomination.

The convention will also feature speeches from prominent members of the party along with up and coming party stars. For example, in 2004 a virtually unknown Illinois State Senator named Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention catapulting him onto the national stage.  

So, how do the delegates know who to pick? That’s where state primaries and caucuses come into play. Most registered voters can vote on their state’s primary day. In a closed primary, voters can choose between the candidates in their declared party, ie if you’re a Republican, you can only vote between the Republican candidates. In an open primary they get to vote for either party but, still only get one vote. Primaries are a direct vote via secret ballot, whereas caucuses are meetings where open support is raised and discussions lead to voting. On the Democrat side, delegates are awarded proportionally based on the percentage of the vote each candidate receives. On the Republican side, delegates are awarded either by winner-take-all where, as the name suggests, the winner of the voting gets all of that state’s delegates, or proportional, based on the percentage of the vote that is won.  

So, GET OUT AND VOTE! Don’t think that your voice doesn’t matter because your voice matters in both your party’s primary and in the general election. You have the power to affect change and as Uncle Ben said in Spider-Man “with great power comes great responsibility.”