Campaigns and Elections

Question 1

open primary

Answer 1

permit any registered voter to vote in any party’s primary;
but, voters can only vote in one party’s primary during each primary election

Question 2

closed primaries

Answer 2

require advanced declaration of partisan affiliation in order
to vote in a specific party’s primary

Question 3

blanket primaries

Answer 3

present voters with all of the candidates for a given office,
which can include more than one candidate for each party; top two votegetters go on to the general election

Question 4

elections

Answer 4

mechanisms people use to select leaders and authorize government actions

Question 5

electoral college

Answer 5

every state gets one electoral college vote for each congressperson, so 3 per state

Question 6

roles of states in elections

Answer 6

-Texas lege draws districts after every US census
-setting election dates, qualifying candidates, voting machines, ballots
-regulate political parties’ organization activities

Question 7

general election

Answer 7

voters cast ballots to elect public officials

Question 8

special elections

Answer 8

election that is not held on a regularly scheduled basis
-called to fill vacancy, ratify amendments, others, give approval for the state gov to borrow money, or city council elections

Question 9

direct democracy

Answer 9

Voters can pass legislation through citizen-derived ballot initiatives and referendums (texas does not allow)

Question 10

redistricting

Answer 10

States constitutionally required to redraw electoral boundaries for all state legislative and congressional districts after each census
-Purpose of redistricting = equalize population acrossdistricts within each state after each census

Question 11

Redistricting Limitations/Guidelines

Answer 11

1. Districts must abide by one person – one vote requirement
2. Districts must be contiguous
3. Districts should be compact (but, hard to enforce)
4. Districts should preserve communities of interest
5. Districts can be drawn to protect incumbents
6. Districts should give minority voters “an equal opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice”

Question 12

gerrymandering

Answer 12

• Redistricting in a manner to favor or benefit one group
• Origin of the term?
• Cracking: similar populations broken up to prevent them from
  constituting a majority in a district
• Packing: shoving as many people as possible into as few districts as possible