To properly understand how the democratic and republican conventions work in presidential primaries would take hours of research, time which most of us do not have. Over the years I have done this research and will deliver the basics to you here in a nutshell. I will start by defining some terms that are essential.

Primaries and Caucuses

In presidential elections in the United States, the entire country votes in either a primary or a caucus to help nominate a candidate. This candidate is then nominated to run in the general election. A primary election is when an entire state votes to narrow the field of candidates with a popular vote. The candidate with the highest percentage of the vote wins the state. A caucus is similar in that it helps narrow the field of candidates. However, unlike a primary, a caucus in the simplest sense is a group of neighbors getting together and voicing their opinions. Whatever opinion is most popular among this group is the winning opinion. On a larger scale, communities throughout a state group together (as neighbors would) and voice their opinions in a larger forum. The winning (or majority) opinions translate into the winning candidate in the state that is caucusing.

Delegates

Each state has a certain number of delegates responsible for conveying the will of the people to the convention. In most states the delegates are awarded to the candidates based on the percentage of the popular vote won per candidate. (e.g. Hilary Clinton wins 60% of the popular vote, she in return gets 60% of the delegates at stake for that

particular state). However, each state has different rules, and some states, (for the Republican Party only) are “winner-take-all” states, such as Florida. These states award all of their delegates to the candidate who wins the highest percentage of popular vote.

While the Democratic Party does not have winner-take-all states, they do have “Super-Delegates.” Super delegates are unique to the Democratic Party; they are elected officials, and often times prominent democrats. (Bill Clinton is a Super delegate). These delegates do not have any state ties; they do not have to endorse a candidate, and may vote for whomever they want when the convention takes place. Super delegates are also free to change their mind up until they fill out their ballot at the convention. However, a super delegates vote does not hold any more weight than a regular delegate. A Republican candidate needs 1,191 delegates, and a Democrat needs 2,025 total to become the nominee at the convention.

Conventions

Finally, after all the primaries and caucuses have taken place, candidates head to the convention. At the convention, the delegates cast a ballot for the candidate their state supported. After this is complete, ideally, a candidate is chosen to continue to the general election and run against his opponent in an opposite party. But what if no candidate receives the required number of delegates?

Brokered Conventions

A brokered convention takes place when no candidate in the field has enough delegate support to win the nomination (1,191 for the Republicans and 2,025 for the Democrats). This is apparent when after the first ballot is conducted there is no winner. The candidates must then go around the convention making deals, and convincing delegates why they should support them as oppose to their challenger. Sometimes deals are made such as, the delegate leader (on the first ballot) will offer the runner up the vice presidency, in exchange for his delegates. Although on the first ballot neither of these candidates had enough votes to win, these deals can many times be effective ways for a front runner to gather support from all different delegates.

Abraham Lincoln was elected like this in 1860, at only the second ever Republican convention. Lincoln was not in the lead on the first ballot, he was very much the underdog. A total of three ballots were actually conducted at that convention before Lincoln could be declared the winner. To be nominated Lincoln had to promise his (at that time) opponents different posts in his cabinet.

So now hopefully you know a little bit more about Presidential elections than you did before. This just scratches the surface of what really goes on during an election and convention, however for most American’s it is plenty (hah). Hope this suits your fancy.