Primary Elections Explained
Primary elections are how political parties in the US pick their strongest (1)____ to run for president. The parties do this by holding mini-elections in each of the states and the candidate with the most (2)____ from these elections becomes the parties “official nominees”, these nominees then face each other in the national election for president. But this isn’t the whole story. There are 5 things that make it a bit more complicated than that. Complication № 1. Primaries and Caucuses. In every state, the local party leaders decide how to run their elections. The most common choices are (3)____ and caucuses. Primaries are just like standard elections. Go to the polls whenever you can, stand in long line, hide in a booth, then tick a box or press a button and your vote is cast in complete anonymity. A caucus, however is a public (4)___. People gather in groups, wherever space is available, then literally take sides in the room with everyone else who likes the same (5)___. The groups debate each other and if people change their minds, they need to physically switch sides. At the end of the debates the party representatives count the number of people in each group. If you leave too early, your vote doesn’t (6)____. This description of primaries and caucuses is really all you need to know but the specifics can vary widely. That’s because there are 50 (7)___ all of which hold at least two primaries and caucuses for the big parties, and possibly more for the small (8)___. Covering all the local variants would take a tediously long time, which your short attention span for boring political videos wouldn’t tolerate – and you need to stay focused because there are 4 more things to cover. Complication № 2. Who can vote? In the National Presidential election all American (9)___ over the age of 18 can vote, with 2 exceptions, you can’t live here (prison) or here (territories). But primaries are in–state elections with lots of different rules. Most states and parties will only let you vote in the primary if you are an official member of the party. This is called a closed primary, because the voting is closed to (10)____ members, but some citizens are independents and not registered with any party. If you are independent and live in a state with closed party elections, tough luck, no voting for you. Some states, however, have semi-closed primaries where (11)___ can pick one and only one primary to vote in. Parties allow this because the presidential election is often determined by independents, so knowing which candidates they like is useful. Finally, in a few states the parties really play fast and loose with open primaries, here any citizens no matter which party they’re (12)___ with can pick a primary to vote in. But it’s not just the states that have primaries. They’re also held in the District of Columbia and we all forgot territories holding primaries. Here it is a bit odd though, considering the territorial (13)___ can’t vote in the actual presidential election. Lastly, there are Americans living (14)___ who, depending on the party, vote in a block as though they all live together in one big extra state. When all these elections take place depends on Complication № 3. Complication № 3. Who votes when? Primaries are not conducted all at once, but are (15)___ out over a year. This leads to fights between the states about who gets to be at the head of the line, who is stuck at the back. Inevitably last minute (16)____ dates happens even if the parties often take away votes from these uncivil states. When it comes to be number one nobody beats New Hampshire, who wrote it into state law that their primary will always be at least a week ahead of everyone else’s. This isn’t a problem until some other state has the bright idea to do the same, and then we have an infinite loop in our system and have to force a law. But wait, you say: “Doesn’t Iowa already go first?” Yes, but New Hampshire lets them get away with it for two reasons: first, Iowa’s election is a caucus and so New Hampshire is still technically the first primary. And second: New Hampshire thinks that Iowa is stupid and doesn’t matter. Other states try to (17)____ their influence not by cutting in line but by forming an alliance and holding their primaries at the same time. The biggest (18)___ of the election cycle is called Super Tuesday where, depending on how many states can agree with each other, around half of them might (19)___ giving out a whole pile of votes. Which brings us to Complication № 4. Complication № 4. Votes, that aren’t votes. So this whole time you’re were probably thinking that citizens give votes straight to the candidates, but no. Instead, the votes are given to a bunch of guys, called delegates, who in turn, will give them to candidates as requested. Maybe... Depending on the state, delegates might be required to vote as the citizens did, or they might be completely free to ignore the citizens and vote for whomever they want. Who are these people? The (20)____ are local party VIPs, such as state reps and officials. The more citizens who live in a state, the more delegates that state gets. Later in the year, when all the states have finished their primaries, the delegates travel to a huge gathering for their party called the National (21)_____. It’s here that the official vote to select the party’s (22)_____ for president happens. But it’s not just these delegates who do the voting. Complication № 5. Super Delegates. Super delegates are the top members of the party such as (23)____ and former presidents. They go to the National Convention not to (24)____ the people but to represent the current party establishment and can vote for whomever they want. Depending on the party, the super delegates might be up to 20% of the voters at the National Convention. Usually by the time the national convention happens all the candidates, save one, have dropped out of the (25)_____, so the convention is just a rubber stamp and a big party. But if the fight between candidates is still ongoing, the delegates and super delegates are the ones with the (26)_____ decision. In summary: Over the course of a year the states, plus DC, plus the territories, and the Americans abroad hold their primaries or caucuses. When finished the delegates representing the citizens who voted in those elections travel to the national convention. Most of the delegates are forced to vote as the citizens of their state wanted them to, but some of them are free to vote as they like. At the national convention the delegates meet up with the super delegates who represent the best interests of the party and together they make the final decision on who will be the nominee for (27)____. Tired? Don’t be, because now the race for the presidency began. Of course, you can skip all that and jump straight into the election as an (28)_____, the only downside to this strategy is nearly certain defeat.
1 Give Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and expressions. Primary, caucus, to boost, nominee, to require. 2 Comprehension questions. 1. Who can vote? 2. What do primaries mean? 3. What is the name of the biggest alliance of the election cycle? 4. Who are the delegates? 5. What decision do delegates make at the national convention? 3 Say if the following statements are true according to the text. 1. At the end of the debates party representative counts the number of people in each group. 2. In the National Presidential election all American citizens over the age of 16 can vote. 3. Iowa’s election is a caucus and so New Hampshire is still technically the first primary. 4. The biggest alliance of the election cycle is called Super Thursday. 5. The delegates are local party VIPs, such as state reps and officials. 6. When all the states have finished their primaries, the delegates travel to a huge gathering for their party called the National Convention. 7. Super delegates are the top members of the party such as congressmen and former presidents. 8. If you leave too early your vote doesn’t count. 9. Most states and parties will only let you vote in the primary if you are an official member of the party. 10. Depending on the party, the super delegates might be up to 45% of the voters at the National Convention.
Project Work. Work individually or in pairs. Find the information about US political system. Prepare a 3-5 minutes PowerPoint presentation on the topic. In your talk address the following questions: 1. What are the branches of power in the USA? 2. What branch does the Congress represent? What role does it play? 3. What parts does Congress consist of? Which of them has more power? 4. Who is the leader the executive branch? 5. What role does the judicial branch play? 6. What are the major political parties in the USA? What party is the party in office today? UNIT 6
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