With all the excitment that’s been going on with the convention (OK, so it’s not so exciting), I’ve been hearing everyone talk about the delegates from all the states. What exaclty do these delegates do and are they appointed or voted in?
They are the “real” people you vote for in primaries, with the understanding that they will vote for the presidential candidate you want come convention time.
I’ll try to answer this to the best of my ability. In a caucus system (which not everyone has, I believe), each district is divided up into precincts. These are the same precincts are counted when you see election results (somuch% precincts reporting).
People who live in that precinct go to their precinct caucuses, and vote on who will be their representatives to the county party assembly (they also vote on alternates). Usually, not many people attent precinct caucuses, so if you’re interested in getting involved with grassroots politics, this is a good place to start.
At the county convention, delegates vote on who will attend the state party conventions. At this point, I believe, primary elections in that state have some influence on what national delegates are chosen. I think that delegates are chosen based on which candidates they support in proportion to the popular vote each candidate got in the primary. I’m not sure about this, though.
The delegates chosen at the state level (by whatever means) are then sent to the national party convention, where they cast their votes for the national candidate.
I think that delegates are allowed to change their votes if their candidates instruct them to – a good example of this is John McCain asking his delegates to now support Bush – but I don’t know for sure if they can do it on their own without their candidate’s approval. I think they can, but don’t hold me to it.
Anyway, at the national convention, delegates cast their votes for whichever candidate they are supposed to vote for. The voting can go to several ballots (the record is some ungodly number, like in 40s) if no one wins a majority. There used to be a lot of back-room dealing at the conventions in order to get candidates nominated, but not as much anymore.
I’m sure I screwed some of this up. Corrections are definitely appreciated.
The Republican record may be in the 40s, but the Democrats hit 103 ballots back in 1924. Also in 1860, the Democrats couldn’t choose anyone at their first convention, so they gave up and split into Northern and Southern parties.
Abraham Lincoln was quite grateful for that.
Seems I was basically right, but the real facts are that different states have hugely different methods of choosing delegates.
Here’s the official dope: http://www.rnc.org/eprise/main/rnc/2000/delegate.htm