If you’re at all like me, you must be confused about it being time to vote again. It feels like we were just voting a few weeks ago! The elections held in November were my first time to vote, and I have to admit, I had no clue what was really going on. Like many of us I had taken my United States history class in middle school, but that’s the thing…it was middle school. As a 20-year-old, by the time noon hits, my memories from my morning classes are already gone, let alone my memories from classes in middle school.
On Saturday, May 4, 2019, Austin will be conducting a joint general and special election, and honestly I had no clue what that meant. I didn’t even know special elections were a thing! If you’re at all like me, then this must be a whole bunch of confusion to you as well. Have no fear fellow confused voter, we will work through the elections together via an election breakdown and have you ready to head out to your voting station in no time! (not a registered voter? Click here to read about voting 101!).
When learning about elections, it can be a bit daunting and scary, so we have broken elections down into three main categories: primary, general, and special.
Primary Elections
Primary elections are used either to narrow the field of candidates for a elective office or to decide the nominees for political parties ahead of a general election. Primary elections can take on different forms depending on what the election is for:
- Partisan primaries are when voters select who they want to represent a political party in the upcoming general election
- Nonpartisan primaries are used to narrow down candidates for nonpartisan offices before a general election
You may see things liked closed or open primaries, but don’t freak out! Different states have different rules dictating their primaries. For Texas, we operate on what’s called a semi-open primaries, meaning anyone of any political party may vote, however they can only vote in one primary. What this means is you can choose to vote in any political parties’ primary, but you can’t vote in the other primaries as well. One vote and you’re done!
Winners in primary elections are chosen by majority vote in Texas. This means if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the casted votes, then both head to a runoff election.
For presidency, primary elections are a preliminary step in the process. Every political party holds a primary election and the winner goes on to represent that party in the presidential elections. Once a winner is determined, the political party officially nominated the winner at the nation convention (held by the party). For more information about presidential primary elections, check out this site.
General Elections
General elections are held after primary elections. General elections are held at regular intervals in which candidates are elected, basically a final round where the winners of other primary elections run against each other. They are held at any level: state, congressional district, county, city, etc. The Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz election, for example, was a general election.
For presidency, the general election is held every four years. The nominees from the political parties and any official candidates for presidency that don’t have a affiliation to any political party (i.e. Independents) are in the election. The new President of the United States is determined by the winner of the presidential general elections.
Special Elections
Special elections are held when there is a opening that needs to be filled in the government. In 2018, Texas had five special elections to fill vacant seats in the State Legislature. If there is a vacancy, the State Governor will call for a special election that will be given to local election authorities. To see more about the 2018 Texas special elections, click here.
Elections can be a confusing ordeal, but hopefully after seeing this break down of elections you will be more confident in knowing what exactly you are votes are helping to determine!
-K.J.
-Edited by J.A.