History: How are presidential nominating convention delegates selected?
editEvery Presidential election year, the United States' Political parties have national conventions that result in Presidential candidates. Candidates are not chosen by the public, but by selected Delegates from each state.
Including delegates in the nomination process began after the Presidential election year of 1968, when there was widespread dissatisfaction of the presidential nominating process[1].The chances of candidates from major parties winning majority of the electoral votes was threatened by 3rd and 4th party movements, which resulted in the reformation of the presidential election process. [1]
Selecting delegates served as the country's way of insuring that non-major parties wouldn't be able to dominate an election.
Selection Process: Democrats
editEach party and state has their own process to selecting delegates
Generally speaking, delegates of both major parties usually pledge their votes to a specific candidate, and those who are associated with the Democratic party and are unpledged are considered super delegates. These super delegates may include Governors who identify with the party, members of Congress, as well as members of the Democratic National Committee . [2] Super Delegates aren't pledged to a particular candidate, and can vote for who they please [2] .Any registered democrat is able to run to be //a delegate, and wins are based off the congressional votes[2].Once Democrats chose their delegates, they distribute delegates to each candidate evenly, the number of delegates a candidate can receive is based off the number of congressional district votes they get (must be at least 15%).[2]
Selection Process: Republicans
editRule 14 of the Republican party's national rules determines the size of delegates for each state, territory, or political subdivision. [3] Delegate selection for the Republican party must take place prior to March 1st or after the 2nd Saturday in June in the year that the convention is held [4]. The republican party uses a "Proportional Allocation" rule, which states that delegates should be based on the statewide votes or the number of congressional district votes in proportion to the number of votes received by each candidate [4]. Also, each state must advocate to have an equal number of men and women in it's delegation [4].
Delegates/ Alternate Delegates for the Republican party National convention may be selected or bound by only one of the following:[4]
- Primary election
- Republican State Committee
- State and Congressional district conventions
- Any method that stays consistent with the rules by which they were selected
References
editHttps://www.jstor.org/stable/795003?pq-origsite=summon&seq=1
 | This user is a student editor in Bowling_Green_State_University/POLS_3460_(Fall_2018). |
- ^ a b "Constitutional Safeguards in the Selection of Delegates to Presidential Nominating Conventions". The Yale Law Journal. 78 (7): 1228–1252. 1969. doi:10.2307/795003.
- ^ a b c d "Who gets to be a Delegate at the Presidential Nominating Conventions?".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Republican National Convention", Wikipedia, 2018-09-30, retrieved 2018-10-25
- ^ a b c d https://prod-cdn-static.gop.com/media/documents/2016-Republican-Rules-Reformatted2018_1533138132.pdf