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Caucus vs. Primary - Civics 101
By:  David W. Weatherholt, MBA

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Caucus – The way all states used to conduct voting, getting down to the one person they want to represent their party.  In a caucus, registered voters get together to discuss the candidates and decide who should win.  For example, registered voters in an area (precinct) gather at a local school, church, auditorium, someone’s home, or corner coffee shop for this discussion.  These voters break up into groups in support of their favorite candidate, while undecided voters have their own group.  

Each group then gives a speech in an attempt to persuade the undecided voters to join their group.  This process ends when everyone joins a candidate group, and a simple head count is taken.  This is a completely open process.  Everyone can see who you voted (or caucused) for.  Only registered voters can caucus for the party they are registered with.  There are exceptions between various states, but this is the basic concept. 

Primary – Simply going into a voting booth and casting your vote on a secret ballot.  A number of states have a “primary” process, which is much like a general election.  The difference comes in the open versus closed systems.

• Open – Open primaries allow any registered voter to vote for any candidate.  Registered Republicans can vote for Democrats and vice versa.  Registered independents can vote for any candidate as well.
• Closed – Closed primaries mean you can only vote for candidates in the party where you are registered.  Registered Independents cannot vote in these primaries.
• Semi-closed – A compromise for the independents.  They can choose which party and candidate they would like to support.

Primaries and caucuses decide which candidate wins, but the actual voting determines which delegates will support which candidates.  Delegates are the people attending the conventions, standing on the floor around signs with their state’s name.  They will cast the official votes for their states.  There are two ways votes get counted by the delegates and two kinds of delegates on the convention floor.

Democrats use a proportional method of counting delegate’s votes, while Republicans use both a proportional method in some states and a winner take all in others.  For example, Colorado has 9 delegates, and they will vote those 9 according to how the candidates’ votes totaled.  If Romney got 60% of the vote, then he would get 60% of the delegates (or 5), and if Gingrich got 30% of the votes, he receives 3 delegates.  If Paul got 10%, he would get 1 delegate.

• Pledged – The delegates are pledged to vote for the candidate that won the votes.
• Unpledged – The delegates no longer have votes that are pledged to a certain candidate.  In our Colorado example there are 3 votes for Gingrich coming from Colorado.  If he pulls out of the race he will not be a choice at the convention.  His delegates still have votes but no candidate.  Their votes will get end up going to another candidate.  If it’s down to one person, it’s easy, however, with two or more candidates remaining at the convention, real politicking begins to determine who gets those delegates

The Republican field is much smaller now and will continue to shrink until the final primary in Utah on June 26.  Then the Republican convention is the week of August 27 in Tampa, Florida.  The Democratic Party is holding caucuses and primaries with President Obama running uncontested-- these events become a simple formality. The Democratic convention is the week of September 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Let me know if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions.
Write David W. Weatherholt at david@waconsult.com

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