So I have a test in my U.S. Government class tomorrow and I'll probabaly be up all night finishing my studying, but I came across an interesting loophole in our bi-partisan system.
Each party holds primaries, or a caucus, in each state to select delegates to represent the party in the electoral college from their respective state after their party's candidate is elected to the presidency. However, third parties do not have such primaries/caucuses due to their lack of popularity. So what happens if a third party candidate, or an independent, actually carries a state in the election? There is nobody to represent them in the electoral college for them to recieve votes towards the 270 required to win the election. So does a vote for a third party candidate, or independent, even count? Let's say for example after each party's national conventions the election is between Hilary Clinton (democrat) and Mitt Romney (republican). I don't like either of them, would my vote count?
I raised this question to my professor and she had no answer for me. Of course she couldn't tell me that my vote doesn't count because that would spoil the point of democracy. I guess my next plan of attack would be to pose this query to my uncle, Wayne Roper, who is currently Chief of Staff for Congressman Bob Ingles from South Carolina's fourth district.
Stay tuned, an answer may be forth coming...
P.S. Despite all of this I still encourage all who read my blog to go out and vote. If you're not registered to vote, please copy and paste the below URL into your browser. This website has all of the information you need to get registered.
http://www.vote-smart.org
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If I read your question correctly, you may be confusing two of the four stages of a presidential election when you ask how a third party can earn delegates to the Electoral College.
A presidential election goes through four stages:
(1) prenomination, in which candidates compete in state primary elections and
caucuses for delegates to the national party conventions;
(2) national conventions—held in the summer of the election year—in which the two major parties nominate candidates for President and Vice President and ratify a platform of the parties’ policy positions and goals;
(3) general election campaign, in which the major party nominees, as well as any minor party or independent contenders, compete for votes from the entire electorate, culminating in the popular vote on election day in November; and
(4) electoral college phase, in which the President and Vice President are officially elected.
The prenomination phase is what we are in now. It is when candidates run in each state to win delegates to their political party’s convention. Third parties can have a national convention as Ross Perot did, or they can submit a candidate for election by acclamation as is often the case for third party candidates for the Libertarian, Constitutional, Green, and Communist parties – all of which often appear on the ballots of presidential elections.
Each party has its own method for assigning delegates (and alternates) to the
different states and jurisdictions. It is also a constantly changing process. But right now:
The Democratic Party allocates delegates and alternates according
to a formula based on population, as measured by electoral college strength and past
levels of voting for Democratic presidential candidates in the general election. The
Democratic National Committee also awards delegates and alternates to five
jurisdictions for which the allocation factor cannot be computed because they do not
participate in the presidential election—American Samoa, Democrats Abroad, Guam,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Furthermore, the party assigns additional
delegate slots for party leaders, former distinguished elected officials, and the entire
Democratic membership of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
The Republican Party assigns three delegates per
congressional district and six delegates at-large for every state. It also assigns bonus
delegates based on the state’s Republican vote in the previous election for President,
U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and Governor. Delegates to the
convention for other jurisdictions are assigned by the Republican National Committee.
Once the party candidates are chosen in the nomination and national conventions, the general election campaign starts.
This is where third party campaigns have the big hurdle to jump. A presidential election is really 50 state elections. The qualifications to get on the state’s general election ballot for president vary from state to state. Some have high petition requirements, others have large fees.
Once the ballots in the states are set for the general election, then the election is held and the electors are chosen for the electoral college. As you know each state has the number of electors as it has representatives and senators for a total of 538.
If a third party candidate wins a state, he should get all of the state’s electoral votes.
In 48 states, the electoral votes are awarded as a winner-take-all. In Maine and Nebraska, the electoral votes are awarded one elector to the winner of each congressional district and then two to the winner of the state’s plurality of votes.
It takes 270 electoral votes to win election, so the hurdle for a third party candidate is pretty high. But votes for third parties do count. – just not much.
I hope this answers your question. I wrote so much because I don't want your mother to punch me really hard in the arm for being incomplete.
P.. I will also take your tests and write your papers. I don't want to get on your mother's bad side -- it is a really, really bad side....
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