VOA常速英语2008年-Delegates Determine Presidential Nominations

By Jeffrey Young
Washington, DC
08 February 2008
 

With many state primary elections and caucuses² already held, the U.S. presidential race is focusing on the delegates to each party's nominating convention later this year. In this segment of "How America Elects," VOA's Jeffrey Young explains the complicated process that ultimately produces a November candidate "ticket."

The road to the White House winds through the states and their primary and caucus¹ contests. But, to arrive at the Oval Office, candidates first have to win their party's presidential nomination³. And, that decision is made by party delegates.

Primary election ballots⁵ have the names of presidential candidates. But when voters make their choice, they are actually voting for convention delegates who are bound to that candidate. The White House contender who has the most delegates at the convention wins the nomination.

When the Democratic National Convention convenes⁶ in Denver, Colorado on August 25th, a total of 4,049 delegates are expected. It will take 2,025 delegates -- exactly half, plus one -- to nominate the party's presidential contender for the November election.

The Republican Party expects 2,381 delegates at its national convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. A candidate needs 1,191 delegate votes to become the Republicans' presidential nominee⁷.

For both major parties, each state's delegation⁸ is made up of certain components⁹. California's Democratic Party contingent¹⁰ is explained by Democratic National Committee official Stacie Paxton, "For example, in California there are 441 delegates at stake. And, 370 of those are pledged delegates, so they are committed to one candidate or the other. There is [are] another 71 delegates that are DNC [Democratic National Committee] members, [others in that group of 71] are Members of Congress. And, [while] they are not committed to a candidate [because of the primary and caucus process], they vote in the convention as well.

California Republicans will send 173 delegates to their convention, 159 are committed delegates, while the other 14 are California party and elected officials. These 14 additional delegates are not committed by voters to particular candidates.

The two parties have different ways of assigning committed delegates to their presidential candidates. The Democrats¹¹ work on a proportional system -- candidates, if they reach a certain threshold, get that percentage of a state's delegates that they received in votes. Republicans, however, have some states that assign delegates proportionally, and in others, a winner-take-all system.

At the conventions, names of candidates are put to a floor vote.

Chairman, Maine Delegation, 1964 GOP Convention: "Mr. Chairman, the state of Maine casts 14 votes for Senator Margaret Chase Smith."

For both the Democratic and Republican parties, committed delegates are bound to their candidates for the first vote. If no candidate gets the 50 percent-plus-one delegate needed to win the nomination, more rounds of floor voting are held. Eventually, delegates can vote for candidates other than the ones they were bound to by the voters. But neither major party has gone past the first round of voting in decades.

All the attention is on the candidates. But the real work of putting them on the November ballot⁴ is in the hands of others. That is an important part of How America Elects.

1 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

2 caucuses   

n.（政党决定政策或推举竞选人的）核心成员( caucus的名词复数 )；决策干部；决策委员会；秘密会议

参考例句：

• Republican caucuses will happen in about 410 towns across Maine. 共和党团会议选举将在缅因州的约410个城镇进行。 来自互联网

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

5 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 convenes   

召开( convene的第三人称单数 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The Premier convenes and presides over the executive meetings and plenary meetings of the State Council. 总理召集和主持国务院常务会议和国务院全体会议。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• Chinese woman tenth the National People Congress convenes grandly today in Beijing. 中国妇女第十次全国代表大会今天在北京隆重召开。

7 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

8 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

9 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

10 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》