Nominations
The chief purpose of nominations.
Why Nominations are Essential.—The choice of elective public officials usually involves two steps—the nomination and the election. Nominations may be made, and they are sometimes made, by a caucus or by a convention of delegates. More often, however, they are made by the voters at a preliminary election or primary. But the question may fairly be asked: Why have nominations at all? Why not give the voters blank ballots and let them write in whatever names they please? Apart from the fact that many voters (in states which impose no educational test) would not be able to write, there is the objection that so many different persons would be voted for that no one would have anything like a majority. In order to ensure that those who are elected will represent the choice of a substantial body of the voters and if possible an actual majority, it is desirable that there be some way of eliminating all but the stronger candidates. That is why we provide for formal nominations.
History of Nominating Methods.—During the past hundred years or more we have tried a variety of nominating methods. First came the caucus, sometimes a gathering of legislators and sometimes of voters, brought together to select a candidate. |The convention method.| The caucus gave place, in time, to the convention, which is a body of delegates chosen by the voters of each locality. To this day the convention remains the mechanism by which nominations are in some cases made. But the convention method, for a variety of reasons, did not prove satisfactory and it has been replaced, throughout the greater portion of the United States, by the system of nomination at a primary election.
Different forms of primary.
The Primary.—The primary, in our electoral system corresponds to the “qualifying trials” in athletic contests. Its purpose is to see that the race is confined to the swift. It eliminates those who have no chance to win. Those who desire to be candidates for any public office present their names on nomination papers, each of which must bear the signatures of so many qualified voters—say twenty-five or fifty. The names of the candidates are placed on a ballot, and a primary election is held some time before the regular election. But the details of primary elections differ somewhat from state to state. An open primary is one at which voters are not restricted to the ballot or column of their own party, but may exercise entire freedom of choice among all the names on the primary ballot. In some states there are party primaries or closed primaries. This means that none may vote at the primary except those who are members of a political party.[[40]] Each party may hold its primary on a different date, in which case it is called a separate primary; or both parties may hold their primaries together, in which case we call it a joint primary. At a joint primary there may be a separate ballot for the voters of each party or there may be a single ballot which contains the names of different party candidates in parallel columns. In some cities and towns another form, the non-partisan primary, is provided, in which case the ballot bears no party designations at all. The procedure at a primary election is like that of a regular election, with printed ballots, ballot boxes, and regular officials in charge of the polls.
Advantages of the primary.
Merits and Defects of the Primary.—As a method of making nominations the primary, whether closed, open, or non-partisan, has both merits and defects. It is better than the convention in that it places nominations directly in the hands of the voters, thus making it more difficult for party bosses to dictate who the candidates shall be. Conventions consisting of a relatively small number of delegates, many of them officeholders, can be manipulated by wire-pulling politicians. Nominations made by conventions have frequently been, for that reason, very unsatisfactory to the rank and file of the voters. The primary gives an opportunity to the man or woman who is popular with the voters although not popular with the politicians. It tends to break down some of the worst abuses of the party system.
Objections to it.
On the other hand there are some practical objections to the primary as a method of making nominations and a vigorous fight is now being waged to abolish it. A primary means an additional election with all the attendant campaigning and expense. The total vote cast at a primary is often small; hence the candidate who gains the nomination may or may not be the real choice of his party.[[41]] The primary puts a burden upon those who seek to gain elective public office, for they must virtually fight and win two successive battles at the polls. To do this takes so much time that men and women who have business of their own to attend to are often deterred from becoming candidates. The field of political activity thus tends to become monopolized by professional politicians who have nothing else to do. The primary contests are so bitter at times that they create dissensions in the party ranks and weaken the party at the ensuing election. The use of the primary has not enabled us to get rid of political bosses; it has merely made them work a great deal harder to retain control.
A new development.
In some states the political parties have adopted the practice of holding an “informal” convention some few weeks before the date of the primary. This convention, which is composed of unofficial delegates, makes recommendations as to the candidates who ought to be voted for by members of the party at the primary. Members of the party are free, of course, to do as they please at the primary, but the recommendations made by an “informal” convention, in view of the fact that they are largely the work of acknowledged party leaders, carry a good deal of weight.
This means a further complication.
One result of the primary system has been, therefore, to complicate our electoral machinery. If the practice of holding informal conventions becomes general, there will be four steps which a party will have to take in order to put its candidates in office, first the informal convention, then the primary, then the official convention which drafts the platform, and finally the election. Surely it should be possible to elect our public officials under some less complicated arrangement than this.[[42]]