| Description |
The major purpose of this examination is to evaluate the primaries of '72, in order to see how they function as a means of selecting a man for the Presidency. Since 1968, the election of convention delegates has taken an increasing number of forms as more states have opted for the primary. Delegates have been elected statewide, in congressional districts, or in a combination of the two ways. Their selection has been made by the voters either in conjunction with a Presidential preference primary or without one; and if there was such a poll, its results might or might not be binding on the delegates at the national convention. In a statewide primary, delegate seats might be alloted on a winner-take-all basis, as in California; or they might be allocated partly statewide and partly by congressional district, or they might be divided proportionately among the Presidential candidates according to their relative showing. The Presidential preference primary might include on the ballot all the serious candidates for the party nomination, or it might only include those candidates who choose to file in that state. |
