MONDAY OCT 27

these here are the notes for today

all seats in the house of representatives, 2/3 of the senate, and many state/local offices are filled in general elections in the november of every even year
its always the first tuesday after the first monday
for presidential elections, voters choose a president through the electoral college
each state gets the number of votes as their total congressional seats combined
every 10 years, reapportionment through the census is conducted and the house of representatives is sized accordingly
the electoral college highlights that the presidential election is a federal rather than national election
people arent voting for the president as much as they are voting for the electors in the college to vote for president
from 1888 to 2000, the college magnified the margin of victory, in 2000 the electoral college didnt agree with the popular vote
this systems detractors seek a majoritarian method for choosing presidents
there are currently 3 main arguments for the elecotral college however

1, small states get a bit more power due to the two senators
2, it encourages candidates to campaign in rural areas rather than just the most populated
3,there are potential problems for a national recount if voting procedures arent exactly kosher

every 4 years, both congressional and presidential elections occur
a straight ticket is a ballot submitted by a voter that is entirely for one party
a split ticket, on the other hand, is a ballot where the candidates being voted on are from different parties
its not unusual in american history to have a president and congress of different parties (this situation is described as a divided government)
first past the posts elections are conducted in single member districts and award victory to the candidate with the most votes rather than above %50, this is also considered a plurality
parties with the most votes normally win more seats than projected by the percentage of votes

context
incumbent- current officeholder
open election- election w/ no incumbent
party preference of the majority of the electorate plays an important role
political issues determine elections as well, namely the current status of the governed

Finance

election campaigns are obscenely expensive
there were many finance reforms passed in 1974 with more in 1976 and the Finance Reform of 2002

1974
six person feeral election commision formed to oversee contributions
all contributions over $100 must be disclosed
no cash contributions above $100
no foreign contributions
individual contributions limited to $1000 for a candidate, $20000 to a party and $5000 to a PAC
a corporation or other association is allowed to establish a political action committee 6 months in advance for an election
it must have at least 50 contributors and at least 5 candidates to help support
contributions from these PAC's are limited to $5000 to a candidate and $15000 to a party