The Role of Delegates in the Election Process

What are delegates?

• Election season involves various complicated rules, complex processes, and pivotal players, such as the delegate, who is critical in determining the Democratic and Republican parties' nominees for the presidency.
• A delegate is an individual chosen to represent their state or community at their party's presidential nominating convention. They are selected in primary and caucus contests, or are chosen because of their position as an elected representative or party leader. Delegates can also be party activists or early supporters of a given candidate. 
• The nominee that receives the most delegates becomes the party's selection for presidential candidate. 

Selecting a presidential nominee

• Each party has two kinds of delegates that use different labels. The Democrat's "pledged" delegate and the Republican's "bound" delegate must vote for whichever candidate wins their party's state primary or caucus. On the other hand, the Democrat's "unpledged" delegate and the Republican's "unbound" delegate can vote for any candidate, regardless of their state's results. Typically, unpledged/unbound delegates are not allowed to select candidates in the first round of voting in contested races. 
• While the number of delegates differs between parties and states, there are thousands across the U.S. A Republican candidate needs at least 1,215 out of 2,429 delegates to win the nomination, while Democrats need 1,968 out of around 3,900 delegates. 
• Democrats and Republicans allocate delegates differently. Republicans use three different systems, varying from state to state, to award candidates with delegate votes. Some states use a proportional system, where delegates are allocated based on vote numbers. This is the same system used by the Democratic party across all states, requiring candidates to receive at least 15% of the statewide vote. 
• The Republican party system also entails a winner-take-all method—where all state delegates are allocated to the candidate who receives the majority of votes—and a hybrid method, which combines the other systems.

The national convention

• Once delegates are allocated, they are typically bound to vote for a specific candidate on the first ballot at the party's national convention.
• At the national convention, delegates from across the country gather to officially nominate the party's candidate for president. The conventions serve as a platform for party members to come together, rally around their nominee, and outline their vision for the presidency. Delegates also debate and vote on the party's official platform, which highlights its priorities for the next administration. 
• In recent years, the national conventions have been mostly a ceremonial, media centric event to ratify the candidate who has secured the majority of delegates.