Presidential Primaries and Caucuses

1. Senior Seminar Mrs. Civitella & Mrs. Verguldi-Scott Presidential Primaries and Caucuses

2. Fill in the blank…… two methods 1. There are two methods used in the U.S. for political parties to select their party’s nominee. a) primaries b) caucuses

3. Fill in the blank for your notes.. • The summer before a presidential election, each party holds one of these to select the party nominee national convention

4. 3. Differences between the parties • The Democratic party records a state’s delegates in proportion to the votes that each candidate received in the state primary or caucus • The Republican party uses a winner-take-all system in which the candidate with the most votes in the state’s primary or caucus wins all of the delegates for that state

5. 4. Primary or Caucus? • Most states use the ____________ system- where voters statewide go to the polls and cast a vote for the candidate that they support • Some states use the older __________ system where voters meet to select a number of delegates to the county and then statewide conventions to represent the views of each district

6. 5. How does a caucus work? Simulation: Let’s select a topic to use for our example. Which would you like to discuss? • Best ice cream flavor • Best pizza topping • Best movie ever made • Best show on television

7. 5 . How Caucuses work • Voters in attendance divide themselves into groups according to the candidate they support. • Undecided voters congregate into their own group and prepare to be persuaded by supporters of the candidates • Voters in each group are then invited to try to persuade others to join their group

8. How caucuses work continued • Party officials then count the voters for each candidate and use a formula to calculate how many delegates to the county convention each candidate has won • Iowa holds the first caucus of the primary season