OConnor and Sabato, Chapter 12: Campaigns, Elections, and Voting

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OConnor and Sabato,Chapter 12 Campaigns,
Elections, and Voting

• Presentation 12.1 Types of Elections

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Key Topics

• Introduction
• Types of Elections

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Introduction

• The historic nature of the 2000 presidential
  elections
• The pivotal nature of Florida
• The legal challenges to the Florida recount

The infamous butterfly ballot. Picture courtesy
www.dccofc.org.
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1i. Bullets or Ballots?

• Elections provide a peaceful basis for regime
  change
• America as a democrats paradise
• The changing nature of voting requirements (race,
  gender or creed cannot be used as a basis for
  excluding a voter

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2. Types of Elections

• The variety of American elections
• The distinction between primary and general
  elections

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2a. Primaries

• Voters decide which partys candidate will
  represent the partys ticket in the general
  election
• The distinction between open and closed primaries
• Open primaries raise the possibility of
  cross-over voting

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2ai. Primaries cont.The Michigan GOP Open
Primary as an Example of Raiding

• Gov. Engler, a Bush supporter, promised victory
• Led to a concerted effort by MI Democrats to get
  Democrats to vote for McCain
• McCain won

Gov. Engler w/ wife one daughter.
Picture courtesy www.thehollandsentinel.net.
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2b. Runoff Elections

• In one-party states, the actual election takes
  place within the dominant party
• If one candidate fails to earn a majority of
  votes, the top two candidates face an additional
  runoff election

At times, runoff elections lead to the defeat of
the person who got the most votes the first time
around. Third and fourth place finishers may
endorse the second-place finishers, which is what
happened in OK in the 2002 Democratic gubernatoria
l primary, as the Vince Orza, the first-place
finisher in the primary, lost in the runoff.
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2bi. Nonpartisan Primaries

• Nebraska and Louisiana use nonpartisan primaries
• Voters select candidate without reference to
  party label
• At times, the result could be a runoff between
  candidates from the same party

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2c. The General Election

• Voters decide which candidate will actually fill
  the seat
• General elections are held at all levels
• General elections involve candidates from
  opposing parties

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2d. Plebiscites

• Plebiscites enable citizens to directly vote on
  issues, rather than electing candidates to fill
  offices
• Employed in nearly 20 states

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2di. Initiatives

• A process that allows citizens to propose
  legislation and submit it to the state electorate
  for popular vote
• Typically requires a set number of signatures on
  petitions
• Many items on state budgets are mandated by
  initiatives (e.g. FL required to maintain 1-20
  student-teacher ratio)

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2dii. Referendum

• A procedure where the state legislature submits
  proposed legislation to the states voters for
  approval
• Enables the legislature to avoid responsibility
  for particularly controversial bills
• e.g. OK lottery

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2diii. Recall

• A popular variant of impeachment
• Allows incumbents to be removed from office by
  popular vote
• Recalls are rare, and at times are
  short-circuited by the officials resignation or
  impeachment prior to recall

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2div. The California Recall

• Driven by CAs large budget deficit
• Funded by a conservative GOP congressman
• Led to the removal of Gray Davis and election of
  actor Arnold Swarzenegger

Gov. Elect Arnold Swarzennegger. Picture
courtesy www.nydailynews.com.