How does delegate process work

The rules on a second ballot and beyond are slightly different. If a nominee isn't secured on the first ballot at the convention, "superdelegates" then get to vote, and again on any subsequent ballot. Amy Klobuchar and Massachusetts Sen.

Elizabeth Warren. To reiterate: Pledged delegates are never legally bound to a candidate, but rather presumed to be loyal to the candidate they are elected to support at the convention. As noted already, pledged delegates are either allocated based on statewide results or based on district-level results -- and for the presidential drop outs' delegates, how they scored their pledged delegates matters.

These never get reallocated to other candidates, even if a candidate drops out by the time these delegates are elected, which sometimes happens before the statewide delegates. Enter a game of deal-making and other tactics to win over the district-level pledged delegates up for grabs. We'll notify you here with news about. Advocating for Ohio agribusiness by creating both a sustainable business climate and added member value through collaborative policy leadership, continuous education and effective communication.

Like the Electoral College, most people have a general sense that there is a group of "delegates" for each party who actually determine each party's nominee for President at their national conventions. Most people assume that delegate allocation generally follows the popular vote and in most cases, that is exactly what happens.

But sometimes it doesn't. In , George Bush won the Electoral College and the Presidency but lost the popular vote and with each party facing very competitive nomination processes, it is worth being familiar with how the delegate allocation process works, just in case it becomes relevant.

Many people are surprised that there are very few rules or laws at the federal level about how each party determines its nominee for President. There are laws about the general election of course, but federal law leaves the process of determining each nominee largely to the parties.

The parties in turn give great deference to each state, within some broad parameters. For example, each state determines whether they will hold a caucus or primary or some other nomination process a party convention for example.

They also decide when those contests will take place and who is eligible to participate. Each party has come up with a system of awarding delegates to candidates based on their performance in each state, but beyond that, the parties take different courses.

The Democratic delegate allocation system is the more straightforward of the two. Each state is given a certain number of "pledged delegates" based on population and past support for the party. There are total Democratic delegates and a candidate must win at least half of them to earn the nomination. Adapted with permission from SuccessSystems, Inc.

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Contact Us SHRM And to complicate things even more, the Democratic and Republican parties have different rules for choosing their nominees. During a presidential election, the two major political parties, Democrats and Republicans, pick their candidate at their national conventions. Members of a political party can apply to be delegates, and often include local politicians, early supporters of candidates, and other activists.

Most delegates represent a congressional district. During primaries and caucuses, presidential candidates campaign to get the votes from members of their party and, in some primaries, independents.

Some Republican delegates are awarded proportionally, while some states use a winner-take-all system during the primaries. The Democratic party uses a fairly complex formula if you ask us to determine the allocation of delegates to candidates.

Now, onto superdelegates. They are also called unpledged or automatic delegates. Use PLEO , taken from the initial letters of party leaders and elected officials. The term superdelegate dates back to the early s.