Essay #3
In Texas elections serve an important and vital role in how the state functions. They are the people’s way of expressing their right to democracy. It is through these elections that we are able select public officials who will represent our state and work towards making it better. They also allow voters to vote on potential changes to the Texas Constitution. Something that can help to improve the policies that we currently have in our state (Champagne and Harpham 135).
One type of election in Texas is the primary election. This election uses a ballot voting system and allows for the people to select who they want their party’s nominee to be for the general election (Champagne and Harpham 135). The primary election is usually the first
…show more content…
It is during this election that public officials are chosen (Champagne and Harpham 136). These officials include the governor, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, and the lieutenant governor. It happens every two years in November on the Tuesday after the first Monday, and tends not to be held during presidential election years in order to prevent either of the elections from influencing each other. Leading up to this date the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee campaign against each other for votes (Champagne and Harpham 136).
A third type of election in Texas is known as special elections. These elections have no set schedule and can be set up whenever they are needed. Special elections are usually used to fill up any office vacancies, approve the borrowing of money, and to accept or reject any amendments that could be added to the state’s constitution (Champagne and Harpham 136). Special elections are even held on a more local basis in order to choose members for city council. In addition, during these particular elections, the candidates do not have their party affiliation next to their name (University of
…show more content…
These particular groups work to protect the interest of professionals, such as teachers, accountants, and doctors. An example is the Texas Medical Association, which is a professional group representing the interest of doctors within the Texas government (Champagne and Harpham 166). In the case of teachers, professional interests groups work to protect their “…job security, qualifications of teachers, health insurance, pensions, salaries, and other matters… ” (Champagne and Harpham 166). A second type of interest group is those that aim to spread awareness of civil rights. In many cases these groups are working to protect and ensure the rights of minority groups. Some of these groups are well known organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or the NAACP which works for the civil rights of African Americans. Other civil rights interest groups include the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund. Both of which work towards protecting and improving the lives of Latin and Mexican Americans (Champagne and Harpham 166). Organizations like these have made some significant progress over the years with informing and changing the minds of the public. As well as influencing policy makers of Texas (Champagne and Harpham
A primary election is where voters in each state votes for a presidential candidate by
There are many ways in which parties may select a candidate for elected office in the United States. For example, one way is through primary elections. This means the people decide which candidate gets to represent the people in the general elections. Another example is through closed primaries, however through this method only registered voters can cast a ballot from their party. Next are open primaries, these primaries allow the other party as well as independent members to be selected as candidates. Generally, closed primaries are the preferred method due to prevention of influencing factors of the other parties. When candidates cannot get the majority vote, they will go through a runoff primary. This eliminates all but the two candidates
Texas’s Democratic and Republican parties are similar in structure. They have temporary and permanent organizations. Primaries and conventions are temporary, but county, district, and state executive committees are parts of each party’s permanent organization. Precinct conventions are held on the day of the first primary. The purpose of a precinct convention is to name delegates who will attend a county convention (or a senatorial district convention in a heavily populated county in which two or more state senators are elected). County and district conventions are held on the second Saturday after the first primary. One of the purposes of these conventions is to elect delegates to attend a party’s state convention, which is held in June of
The primary aims to select engage in a deliberate process to select a small number potential candidates that wish to run for office. At the primary, the two individuals from the Democratic and Republican parties select the presidential nominee. On election day, citizens will ultimately cast their ballot to elect a new President. Primaries diverge into two subsections which are non- partisan and partisan primaries. Non-partisan primaries focus on combining all of the candidates on a ballot, without indicating their
2. Primary elections determine a party’s nominees for offices in general elections against other parties’ nominees. In the United States, primary elections are used to select one applicant from a pool of candidates for each political party to run in an election as a representative of the entire party. There is a few types of primaries and the first one is closed primaries, and it involves participation in primary elections, which is often restricted to voters enumerated as members of that particular party. The next one is Open Primaries, and these are elections that are exposed to all listed voters nevertheless of party affiliation. The last one is Runoff Primaries, and this is an election only held if no applicant receives a strong majority of the vote during the regular primary. The top two finishers will go against each other again in a run off to determine the nominee for the general elections. Many party leaders favor closed primaries because they dishearten crossover voting and strategic voting.
The first phase is the nominating process. The states work with the national parties to firm up their specific primary election date. More Americans show up to vote in the general election than in the primaries. A winning nominee must pick up a defined number of convention delegates that are divvied out based on state population. Traditionally, a winner-take-all system where a candidate had to win all of the delegates in order win the state has been used by the Republican Party. Recently, the Republican Party has moved to the same system as the Democrats. The Democratic Party selects their candidate through a proportional representation system whereby the delegates are assigned based on the proportion of the vote the candidate wins. The second presidential election phase consists of the two major party conventions and takes place in the summer before the election. Conventions can give the party’s nominee a lift in the polls, or an electoral boost, lasting days into weeks. The third phase of the presidential election is the general election, which begins after the conventions and ends on Election Day. During general election phase, two or three debates are held between the
The presidential election is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November and occurs every four years. The election comes in many steps for someone to win the position as president of the United States. The first stage are primaries and caucuses. A primary is a voting process that takes place in each state where people cast secret ballots for the candidates they wish to see in the race for presidency. A caucus is where locals gather, discuss, and come to an agreement on which candidate they will support and select delegates for future nominating conventions. The second step is the national convention where a final candidate is nominated to run for presidency for their particular party. The third step in the race are the general
primary and Caucus. Every state has their own process; some states use primary process and some use caucus
An election for President of the United States occurs every four years on Election Day, held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The election process begins with the primary elections and caucuses and moves to nominating conventions, during which political parties each select a nominee to unite behind. The nominee also announces a Vice Presidential running mate at this time.
•Summer of the year before an election through spring of the election year – Primary and caucus debates take place.
An election for the President of the United States occurs every four years (one term) on Election day held the first Tuesday of November. Before the general elections candidates from both parties running for president got through multiple of primaries and caucuses. Although primaries and caucus are different, both serve the same purpose- for that state to help choose the political parties’ nominees for the general election. In a primary members vote for a candidate to represent them in the general election. In a caucus members choose a candidate through a series of discussions and votes. Each party holds a national convention where the final presidential nominee is chosen. The candidate then gets to choose a vice president candidate with them.
Primary elections is conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent elections. Candidates running for any major office is elected first by a primary elections. In other words it nominates candidates for any major political office. The primary election works in a simple way, basically the people vote for any political party (Republican party, Democratic party, Libertarian party, etc.) and the winner of the party’s primary election is officially the candidate that goes on to speak for the party in the main election called the presidential election. There are four types of Primary elections open primaries, closed primaries, semi-open primaries, and runoff primaries. As of today, March 30,
The presidential election process comes down to starts with individuals announcing their candidacy and ultimately seeking to gain 270 electoral votes. Usually, candidates announces their intentions to run in the early months of an election year. Immediately following is a process called the primaries. During this time, candidates run against individuals in their own party. This full of things such as debates and speeches through the country. The point of the primary is to win a parties nomination. This leads up to each parties national convention which takes places at the end of the summer. During this time, a single candidate is selected from each party to run for president. The convention is also a time where party unity is displayed.
Candidates’ nomination involves the primaries and the caucuses, which are ways through which voters participate in nominating their preferred politicians for the presidency. The primaries refer to a general election where party members or affiliates vote to determine their preferred candidate. It is important to note that none party members do not vote in the primaries of a party.
The primary election is “conducted within the party to select candidates who will run for public office in the general election”, (Brown). The general election “held in November to elect county and state officials from among the candidates nominated in the primaries”, (Brown). Special elections are called by the