Presidential Primaries Are Form Of Trial Balloon

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31649, 8 April 1968, Page 11

Presidential Primaries Are Form Of Trial Balloon

Before the Democratic and Republican candidates for the office of President of the United States are nominated at national party conventions this summer, voters in nearly a score of states will have indicated their choices in a series of state party elections from March to June.

These intra-party elections are known simply as “the presidential primaries” or more formally as the “state presidential preference primary elections.”

What the primary does is to provide an initial test of the popularity of a candidate seeking the nomination of his party to run for the office of president in the general election, this year on November 5.

Candidates who enter these contests are obliged to explain their political views and say why they are worthy of their party’s support As the primary campaign moves from state to state, there emerges a measurement of the relative strength and appeal of the candidates to voters in various regions of the country Winning a number of primary elections does not guarantee nomination for a candidate, for only about onethird of the states hold this type of preliminary contest. But a series of victories, increasing the candidate’s stature and prestige, can weigh heavily in the minds of delegates to the party’s national convention.

On the other hand, if a candidate should lose one or two primaries in influential states, his cause may be lost long before the convention opens. Nevertheless, political experts believe ” candidate is taking a serious risk if he decides not to enter the primaries and to depend upon the convention to swing in his favour. Expressing Choice This is particularly true when the candidate is not

already a nationally known figure and if his party is not in power. In the Presidential primary itself the voter expresses his choice for President and VicePresident in one of two ways, or both:

(1) By specifically naming the candidate on a preferential voting ballot and (2) By voting for delegates to the party’s national convention who in turn will vote for the party’s nominees for office.

Delegates on the ballot may be listed as “favourable”’ to the nomination of a certain candidate, or as “pledged” to vote for that candidate, or the delegates may be simply unpledged. Depending on the laws of the particular state governing the primary election, the elected delegate may or may not be bound either by the preference vote or his listed commitment on the ballot to a candidate.

Presidential primaries usually account for less than half of the delegates to the national conventions. In more than 30 states delegates are selected at state party conventions.

Many of these delegates are unpledged officially, but a considerable number may be favourably disposed to various candidates.

As for the candidate, he may enter a primary on his own initiative; he may be entered by local party leaders; or a group of citizens may petition to have his name placed on the ballot Controlled by State

In most of the states holding presidential primaries the candidate must give his consent in writing before his name can appear on the ballot.

In other states personal approval is not required but in most cases his name will be withdrawn if he desires. There are numerous variations in all phases of the presidential primaries because each state government makes its own laws governing them, and in addition the individual state party organisation has its own rules and regulations. The election is held under the authority of, and conducted by, the state government. Thus political parties merely utilise the election machinery, provided by the State government; they do not exercise any control over it. This year the presidential primary schedule runs from March 12 until June 11. Elections will be held in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Indiana, Nebraska, Oregon, Florida, California and Illinois. These primaries will be followed by the Republican national convention which

will be held in Maimi Beach on August 5, and the Democratic convention in Chicargo on August 26. In most states the presidential primaries coincide with state primary elections which run from April to October. Right of Selection While one-third of the states have presidential primaries, nearly all of the 52 states hold primary elections to nominate a host of state district, county and municipal representatives and officers.

State primaries are also held in years other than the quadrennial election year because of the differing terms for the various offices.

The primary election was developed to broaden the

base of the process by giving the rank-and-file voter the right to select candidates by secret ballot.

Some students of politics have questioned the value of sucL elections.

First, they say, the system is not nation-wide and therefore the relationship of the primaries to actual nomination is frequently blurred. Second, all the candidates do no enter the primaries for a variety of reasons. It is also noted that only a small number of convention delegates are firmly bound to a candidate. And further, it is a matter of record that a candidate may sweep the primaries and fail to win nomination.

Proponents of the presidential primary, however, observe that these contests expose the candidates to the public eye. In addition the campaign debates inform the electorate on domestic issues and international problems.—U.S.l.S.