US Presidential elections: All you need to know about primary polls ahead of Super Tuesday

While US President Donald Trump faces no serious challenge within the party for the presidential primary, all eyes will be on Democrats on Super Tuesday, especially after former Vice President Joe Biden registered a major win in South Carolina Democratic primary to keep his hopes alive. Ahead of the general elections, Democrats and Republicans will choose their presidential nominee at a National Convention.

At the party’s National Convention, delegates nominate their candidate for the presidential elections, and a candidate must secure support from a majority of pledged delegates. For the 2020 presidential elections, a Democratic nominee must secure the support of at least 1,991 pledged delegates from a total of 4,750 which also include an estimated 764 automatic delegates or superdelegates, according to the Green Papers.

Pledged and Superdelegates

The pledged delegates are awarded to presidential hopefuls through primaries and caucuses held in states but very few states like Iowa and Nevada rely solely on caucuses. Pledged delegates are not “bound” to vote for the candidate they are committed to, but they are asked to vote in “good conscience” that reflect the “sentiments” of those who elected them. 

However, superdelegates are not required to pledge their support to any presidential candidate and can vote anyone of their liking at the National Convention. Superdelegates are not elected by the Democratic primary voters, and they are usually the elected officials, governors, and distinguished party leaders.

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Primaries and caucuses

Process of primaries is simpler than caucuses in which the voters directly vote for their favourite presidential candidate through a secret ballot. In presidential primaries, a state awards delegates either through proportional method or through the winner-takes-all method. 

In the proportional method, the candidates are awarded delegates in proportion with the percentage of votes they secure in that state. For example, if a candidate secures 50 per cent vote in a state with 100 delegates, the primary candidate will be awarded 50 delegates. However, in the winner-takes-all method, a candidate with a majority of the vote wins all state delegates.

The caucuses are a bit complex where the delegates are selected through a multi-stage months-long process. In states like Iowa, voters at the precinct level help portion out delegates for the county conventions and in return they choose delegates for district conventions. The delegates at the district conventions vote to choose delegates for the state convention where the distribution of delegates for the national convention takes place.

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Sanders and Biden - the frontrunners

Following the primaries and caucuses of Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders emerged as a clear front-runner but the results of South Carolina has brought back Joe Biden in the contest. The South Carolina primary results can provide the much-needed boost to Biden’s campaign that he desperately wanted just before the all-important Super Tuesday.

On March 3, 14 states will vote for their presidential nominees, deciding on more than one-third of the delegates. It is important to note that the number of delegates in each state depends on its population so California, which will also hold its primary on Tuesday, sends the highest number of delegates to the National Convention. 

Tom Steyer, a former hedge-fund executive, and Pete Buttigieg, a former South Bend mayor, dropped out of the presidential race following a third and fourth-place finish respectively in South Carolina. It is expected that the picture will become clearer after the Super Tuesday with some more candidates exiting the race.

The Democratic National Convention will be held from July 13-16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Republicans will hold their National Convention from August 24-26 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Under the "Gentlemen's agreement", the out party, i.e. Democrats, are supposed to organise their National Convention before the party that holds the White House, i.e. Republicans. The general elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2020.

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