The Electoral College
The only two states that use a proportional system, rather than winner-takes-all, to assign electoral votes to the winning candidate.
What are Maine and Nebraska?
This type of money can be given directly to a candidate's campaign. It is carefully regulated and reported.
What is hard money?
The reason the number of electors a state has may increase or decrease.
What is population change leading in a change to the number of reps the state has in Congress?
This is what we call the place where people go to cast their ballots.
What is the polling place?
An type of 527 Committee that can raise unlimited amounts of money to support a candidate as long as the money is not given in direct coordination with the candidate's campaign.
What is a Super PAC?
An elector in the electoral college who does not vote for the candidate for whom they have promised to cast their vote.
What is a faithless elector?
Limited and highly regulated amounts of money that candidate's may access that come from the government ( tax money) for their campaigns.
What is public funding?
A standard speech that a candidate may give many times throughout their campaign.
The sum total of votes cast by individuals in a presidential election.
What is the popular vote?
A type of "money" used in political campaigns that is harder to track and has been historically less regulated. It is money used to support campaigns in more indirect ways, like voter drives and ad campaigns.
What is "soft money"?
How many electoral votes needed to win the presidency?
What is 270?
A highly significant Supreme Court case that determined political spending by corporations and unions is protected free speech and can be unlimited provided the funds aren't given directly to the campaign ( like running ads or billboards).
What is Citizens United vs FEC
The election in which each party narrows down its candidate to move forward in the election process.
What is the primary?
The title of people whose job it is to oversee the security and function of the voting process on election day.
What are poll watchers?
Elections that occur on even numbered years halfway through a presidential term.
What are midterms?
How the number of electoral votes per state is determined.
What is the total number of the members of Congress in each state?
A legal provision that requires candidates to state their approval of a message at the end of a broadcast message or ad.
What is "stand by your ad"?
Voters and supporters who can be reliably counted on to vote for candidates from their party in almost every election.
What is the party base?
A mail- in ballot voters may use if they are unable to physically go to the polls for some reason.
What is an absentee ballot?
These types of ads tend to be sponsored by interest groups rather than campaigns, and often focus on specific problems or attacking the other candidate rather than stating "vote for me".
What are issue ads?
The total number of electoral votes available in the electoral college.
What is 538?
This piece of legislation, sponsored by both parties in Congress, aimed to limit campaign spending by targeting "soft money" and unregulated tv ads.
What is the Bipartisan Campaign Reform or McCain- Feingold Act?
The benefit a candidate may receive from association with another already successful leader from their same party. The influence a successful elected leader may have on voters in getting them to elect another candidate from their same party.
What is the coattail effect?
The type of poll a voter may be asked to participate in after they have voted.
What is an exit poll?
States where the outcome of the election is predicted to be close. Candidates will often focus a lot of campaign attention on these states because they can be highly influential in determining the winner.
What are battleground states?