A candidate , or nominee , is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
48-408: " Nomination " is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office by a political party, or the bestowing of an honor or award. This person is called a "nominee", though nominee often is used interchangeably with "candidate". A presumptive nominee is a person or organization believes that the nomination is inevitable or likely. The act of being a candidate in a race for either
96-443: A political party convention or caucus , according to the rules of the party and any applicable election laws . In some countries the process is called preselection . Public statements of support for a candidate's nomination are known as endorsements or testimonials . In some jurisdictions the nominee of a recognized political party is entitled to appear on the general election ballot paper . Candidates who are endorsed by
144-426: A political party selects a candidate. Depending on the country and administrative division, there may be an "open primary", in which all voters are eligible to participate, or a "closed primary", in which only members of a political party can vote. Electoral systems using first-past-the-post for both primary and general elections often use the plurality-with-primaries or partisan two-round system , highlighting
192-526: A candidate the momentum to win their party's nomination. Since 2000, the primary in South Carolina has also become increasingly important, as it is the first Southern state to hold a primary election in the calendar year. A criticism of the current presidential primary election schedule is that it gives undue weight to the few states with early primaries, as those states often build momentum for leading candidates and rule out trailing candidates long before
240-624: A closed primary system. In May 2024, the Republican Party of Texas approved at its bi-annual convention an amendment to its party rules that changes its primary from an open primary to a closed primary, in which only voters registered with the Republican party may now vote in the Republican primary election. State law in Texas currently mandates open primaries, where voters select which primary to vote in when they go to vote rather than affiliating with
288-592: A member of the Catholic Church (through the church process called the Christian Initiation of Adults , they are known as catechumens . In the context of elections for public office in a representational partisan democracy, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party. The party's selection (that is, the nomination) is typically accomplished either based on one or more primary elections according to
336-542: A party nomination or for electoral office is called a "candidacy". Presumptive candidate may be used to describe someone who is predicted to be a formal candidate. Candidate is a derivative of the Latin candidus (‘shining white’). In ancient Rome , men seeking political office would usually wear the toga candida , a toga chalked and bleached to be bright white at speeches , debates , conventions , and other public functions . Individuals who wish to be received into
384-561: A party prior to the primary. Oregon was the first American state in which a binding primary election was conducted entirely via the internet. The election was held by the Independent Party of Oregon in July, 2010. In the United States, Iowa and New Hampshire have drawn attention every four years because they hold the first caucus and primary election, respectively, and often give
432-412: A political party may be required to submit a nominating petition in order to gain ballot access . In others all candidates have to meet nomination rules criteria to stand. In parliamentary procedure , a nomination is basically a motion to fill a blank in a motion "that _____ be elected." Nominations are used to provide choices of candidates for election to office. After nominations have been made,
480-423: A presidential candidate and/or selecting delegates or alternate delegates to the national convention, prior to the first Tuesday of February in the year in which the national convention is held." In 2028, this date is February 1. Candidates for U.S. President who seek their party's nomination participate in primary elections run by state governments, or caucuses run by the political parties. Unlike an election where
528-759: A presidential primary. Indeed, the Lisbon treaty , which entered into force in December 2009, lays down that the outcome of elections to the European Parliament must be taken into account in selecting the President of the Commission; the Commission is in some respects the executive branch of the EU and so its president can be regarded as the EU prime minister. Parties are therefore encouraged to designate their candidates for President of
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#1732845472132576-471: Is clear that the closed/semi-closed/semi-open/open classification commonly used by scholars studying primary systems does not fully explain the highly nuanced differences seen from state to state, still, it is very useful and has real-world implications for the electorate, election officials, and the candidates themselves. As far as the electorate is concerned, the extent of participation allowed to weak partisans and independents depends almost solely on which of
624-932: Is itself considered an honour, as in the case of the Academy Awards and other similar events, and with events such as book and arts awards. In 2015 there were 273 candidates nominated for the Nobel peace prize , while 9000 are nominated for the more satirical Ig Nobel prizes every year. Partisan primary Condorcet methods Positional voting Cardinal voting Quota-remainder methods Approval-based committees Fractional social choice Semi-proportional representation By ballot type Pathological response Strategic voting Paradoxes of majority rule Positive results Primary elections or primaries are elections that are held to determine which candidates will run for an upcoming general election . Party primaries are elections in which
672-477: Is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office , or the bestowing of an honor or award . A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list . In the context of elections for public office, a candidate who has been selected to represent or is endorsed by a political party is said to be the party's nominee. The process of selection may be based on one or more primary elections or by means of
720-525: The membership of the Catholic Church who have been baptized in another mainstream Christian denomination are known as candidates ; their reception into the Catholic Church is done through a profession of faith , followed by the reception of Holy Communion and Confirmation . In contrast, those persons who have never received the sacrament of baptism are, as a matter of Catholic canon law , considered non-Christians and if they are preparing to become
768-554: The 14 state primaries , causing substantial controversy at the national convention . To prevent a recurrence, Democrats set up the McGovern–Fraser Commission which required all states to hold primaries, and the Republican party soon followed suit. Primaries can be used in nonpartisan elections to reduce the set of candidates that go on to the general election ( qualifying primary ). (In the U.S., many city, county and school board elections are non-partisan, although often
816-673: The 2008 presidential primary elections. Among the changes: the primary election cycle would start nearly a year earlier than in previous cycles, states from the West and the South would be included in the earlier part of the schedule, and candidates who run in primary elections not held in accordance with the DNC's proposed schedule (as the DNC does not have any direct control over each state's official election schedules) would be penalized by being stripped of delegates won in offending states. The New York Times called
864-418: The United States, further types can be differentiated: All candidates appear on the same ballot and advance to the general election or second round regardless of party affiliation. Unified primary The United States is one of a handful of countries to select candidates through popular vote in a primary election system; most other countries rely on party leaders or party members to select candidates, as
912-454: The aforementioned categories best describes their state's primary system. Open and semi-open systems favor this type of voter, since they can choose which primary they vote in on a yearly basis under these models. In closed primary systems, true independents are, for all practical purposes, shut out of the process. This classification further affects the relationship between primary elections and election commissioners and officials. The more open
960-399: The assembly proceeds to its method of voting used for electing officers. There are a number of motions relating to nominations. They include the motions to make, close, and reopen nominations, and motions to designate the method of making nominations. The motion to select a method of nominating is also treated as filling a blank, in which votes are taken on suggested methods of nomination in
1008-557: The candidate must move more towards the center in hopes of capturing a plurality. In Europe , primaries are not organized by the public administration but by parties themselves, and legislation is mostly silent on primaries. However, parties may need government cooperation, particularly for open primaries. Whereas closed primaries are rather common within many European countries , a few political parties in Europe have opted for open primaries. Parties generally organize primaries to nominate
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#17328454721321056-466: The effect of eliminating minor parties from the general election, and frequently the general election becomes a single-party election. Unlike a plurality voting system, a run-off system meets the Condorcet loser criterion in that the candidate that ultimately wins would not have been beaten in a two-way race with every one of the other candidates. Because many Washington residents were disappointed over
1104-447: The election by nominating persons who have no chance of being elected. It takes a two-thirds vote to close nominations, but only a majority vote to reopen them. The rules of a number of awards or honours require the nomination of candidates. The rules for who and how candidates are nominated vary with each award or honour, as do the processes of selecting from the candidates. For some awards and honours, being nominated or shortlisted
1152-434: The following order: Not all of these methods may be suitable for a particular organization. Normally, nominations are closed when no one else wants to make a nomination. This is done without a motion (using a form of unanimous consent ). A motion to close nominations cannot be used to prevent a member from making a nomination. A legitimate use of a motion to close nominations is that some members are obviously delaying
1200-414: The general election may advance from the primary. When a qualifying primary is applied to a partisan election, it becomes what is generally known as a blanket or Louisiana primary : typically, if no candidate wins a majority in the primary, the two candidates receiving the highest pluralities , regardless of party affiliation, go on to a general election that is in effect a run-off. This often has
1248-832: The loss of their blanket primary , which the Washington State Grange helped institute in 1935, the Grange filed Initiative 872 in 2004 to establish a blanket primary for partisan races, thereby allowing voters to once again cross party lines in the primary election. The two candidates with the most votes then advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation. Supporters claimed it would bring back voter choice; opponents said it would exclude third parties and independents from general election ballots, could result in Democratic or Republican-only races in certain districts, and would in fact reduce voter choice. The initiative
1296-487: The move, "the biggest shift in the way Democrats have nominated their presidential candidates in 30 years." Of note regarding the DNC's proposed 2008 presidential primary election schedule is that it contrasted with the Republican National Committee 's (RNC) rules regarding presidential primary elections. "No presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other meeting may be held for the purpose of voting for
1344-465: The nomination has to be seconded, i.e., receive agreement from a second person. In German politics , the person at the head of an electoral list is called the Spitzenkandidat ("lead candidate"). By convention, this means that this person (normally the party leader ) will be elected to lead the government if their party wins the election. Various other countries with a parliamentary democracy have
1392-540: The only participation is casting a ballot, a caucus is a gathering or "meeting of party members designed to select candidates and propose policies". Both primaries and caucuses are used in the presidential nomination process, beginning in January or February and culminating in the late summer political party conventions. Candidates may earn convention delegates from each state primary or caucus. Sitting presidents generally do not face serious competition from their party. While it
1440-456: The opposite party can vote for the weaker candidate in order to face an easier general election. In California, under Proposition 14 (Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act), a voter-approved referendum , in all races except for that for U.S. president and county central committee offices, all candidates running in a primary election regardless of party will appear on a single primary election ballot and voters may vote for any candidate, with
1488-490: The party leader ( leadership election ). The underlying reason for that is that most European countries are parliamentary democracies. National governments are derived from the majority in the Parliament, which means that the head of the government is generally the leader of the winning party. France is one exception to this rule. Closed primaries happen in many European countries, while open primaries have so far only occurred in
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1536-471: The party primary is combined with the general election . Parties in countries using the parliamentary system may also hold leadership elections . A party's leader will typically become the head of government should that party win a majority of seats in the legislature, meaning leadership elections often select a party's de facto candidate for prime minister, much like a presidential primary. Two types of party primaries can generally be distinguished: In
1584-485: The people. However, political parties control the method of nomination of candidates for office in the name of the party. Other methods of selecting candidates include caucuses , internal selection by a party body such as a convention or party congress , direct nomination by the party leader , and nomination meetings. A similar procedure for selecting individual candidates under party-list proportional representation can be found in open list systems; in such systems,
1632-426: The political affiliations of candidates are commonly known.) In some states and localities, candidates receiving more than 50% of the vote in the primary are automatically elected, without having to run again in the general election. In other states, the primary can narrow the number of candidates advancing to the general election to the top two, while in other states and localities, twice as many candidates as can win in
1680-423: The primary process is its influence on the candidates themselves. Whether a system is open or closed dictates the way candidates run their campaigns. In a closed system, from the time a candidate qualifies to the day of the primary, they tend to have to cater to partisans, who tend to lean to the more extreme ends of the ideological spectrum. In the general election, under the assumptions of the median voter theorem ,
1728-415: The primary to be successful in the general election takes public office. In modern politics, primary elections have been described as a vehicle for transferring decision-making from political insiders to voters, though political science research indicates that the formal party organizations retain significant influence over nomination outcomes. The direct primary became important in the United States at
1776-403: The rest of the country has even had a chance to weigh in, leaving the last states with virtually no actual input on the process. The counterargument to this criticism, however, is that, by subjecting candidates to the scrutiny of a few early states, the parties can weed out candidates who are unfit for office. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) proposed a new schedule and a new rule set for
1824-409: The rules of the party and any applicable election laws . Candidates are called " incumbents " if they are already serving in the office for which they are seeking re-election, or "challengers", if they are seeking to replace an incumbent. In the context of elections for public office in a direct democracy , a candidate can be nominated by any eligible person—and if parliamentary procedures are used,
1872-716: The same system. In 2014, the major groups represented in the European Parliament and the European Council agreed to apply this process to determine the next President of the European Commission , as a way of the Council "taking account of the results of the European Parliament election" as required by the Union treaties. This led to the appointment and confirmation of Jean-Claude Juncker . Nomination Nomination
1920-831: The socialist and social-democratic parties in Greece and Italy, whereas France's Socialist Party organised the first open primary in France in October 2011. One of the more recent developments is organizing primaries on the European level. European parties that organized primaries so far were the European Green Party (EGP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES) With a view to the European elections , many European political parties consider organizing
1968-777: The state level starting in the 1890s and at the local level in the 1900s. The first primary elections came in the Democratic Party in the South in the 1890s starting in Louisiana in 1892. By 1897 the Democratic party held primaries to select candidates in 11 Southern and border states. Unlike the final election run by government officials, primaries were run by party officials rather than being considered official elections, allowing them to exclude African American voters. The US Supreme Court would later declare such white primaries unconstitutional in Smith v. Allwright in 1944. The direct primary
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2016-465: The structural and behavioral similarity of such systems to plurality-with-runoff elections , particularly in two-party systems; these similarities have led to the two-round system being described as the " nonpartisan primary ". The origins of primary elections can be traced to the progressive movement in the United States , which aimed to take the power of candidate nomination from party leaders to
2064-454: The system, the greater the chance of raiding, or voters voting in the other party's primary in hopes of getting a weaker opponent chosen to run against a strong candidate in the general election. Raiding has proven stressful to the relationships between political parties, who feel cheated by the system, and election officials, who try to make the system run as smoothly as possible. Perhaps the most dramatic effect this classification system has on
2112-451: The top two vote-getters overall moving on to the general election regardless of party. The effect of this is that it will be possible for two Republicans or two Democrats to compete against each other in a general election if those candidates receive the most primary-election support. As a result of a federal court decision in Idaho, the 2011 Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 351 implementing
2160-414: The voter-approved initiative. In elections using electoral systems where strategic nomination is a concern, primaries can be very important in preventing "clone" candidates that split their constituency's vote because of their similarities. Primaries allow political parties to select and unite behind one candidate. However, tactical voting is sometimes a concern in non-partisan primaries as members of
2208-521: Was previously the case in the U.S. The selection of candidates for federal, state, and local general elections takes place in primary elections organized by the public administration for the general voting public to participate in for the purpose of nominating the respective parties' official candidates; state voters start the electoral process for governors and legislators through the primary process, as well as for many local officials from city councilors to county commissioners. The candidate who moves from
2256-410: Was promoted primarily by regular party leaders as a way to promote party loyalty. Progressive reformers like Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin also campaigned for primaries, leading Wisconsin to approve them in a 1904 referendum. Despite this, presidential nominations depended chiefly on party conventions until 1972. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic nomination without entering any of
2304-638: Was put to a public vote in November 2004 and passed. On 15 July 2005, the initiative was found unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington . The U.S. Supreme Court heard the Grange's appeal of the case in October 2007. In March 2009, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Grange-sponsored Top 2 primary, citing a lack of compelling evidence to overturn
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