election process, can some ex plane this to me?

Question

why is Iowa so important during election year ? and also I was told at one time with the electoral college, your vote may not count. is this true ??

Answer 1

Each state has a primary (or caucus), spaced out through the year. The first primaries are considered the most important, because if a candidate doesn't do well in the first 2 or 3 or 4 primaries he will often drop out.



The Republican race has already gone on nearly a year. All last year there were polls showing first Bachmann ahead, then Perry, then Cain, actually all of the candidates had their turn on top. But none of those polls meant anything, they were all 'unofficial'. There were about 500 'debates' between the Republican candidates and that kept everyone busy and involved until the actual primaries arrived.



So the Iowa caucuses are the first primary, so that makes it very important, maybe the most important single state. A caucus is different than a primary because you have to attend a meeting, the same time as everyone else, and listen to speeches and arguments, so voters aren't as 'casual' as in primary states. Also some 60-70% of Republicans in Iowa are fundamentalist Christians, meaning Romney is at a distinct disadvantage 'cos he's a Mormon. After Iowa comes New Hampshire, and then the race is actually underway.

Answer 2

Iowa is the first state to hold a vote on the party nomination, so it's the first signal of who has support. It also tends to give the winner momentum and knocks the weaker candidates out of the race.



The electoral college can make your vote unimportant since a President could easily win by getting enough votes from other states and not worrying about yours, depending on where you are. Popular votes don't elect the President, as we saw in 2000, when Al Gore got more votes from people but GWB was elected by the Electoral College.

Answer 3

What's going on in Iowa has nothing to do with the electoral college, it's the Iowa caucus which is the first primary vote of the GOP primary, it matters for many reasons. Fund raising is one of them, donors are likely to give money to the winner. But the main reason this matters is if Romney wins Iowa, a very conservative state he will likely win most every other state. and if someone who isn't Romney wins they could likely be the "Not Romney" for instance if Santorum wins he might be the candidate the conservatives try to rally behind and will likely knock out alot of the other very right candidates who don't make the "Not Romney" position (Perry, Bachman). In response to your second question, your vote does matter because it influences the outcome of how the electoral college votes, but I'd rather see the electoral college taken out.

Answer 4

To answer both of your questions:



* The city of Des Moines, Iowa, is traditionally the starting point of presidential races, and many presidential candidates set up their headquarters in Des Moines.



* To a certain extent, yes, this is true. It's because of the way the electoral college works. What happens is that the citizens of each state vote to determine how that state will vote as a whole, and all that state's votes go to the winner. So if 60% off a state's citizens voted for the Republicans and 40% voted for the democrats, then all that state's college votes would go to the Republicans, even though nearly half of the state actually voted democrat. This can lead to some interesting results:



The first problem is that many states are pretty fixed in their stance- you can be pretty sure that Texas will vote Republican, for instance. As such, the campaign is largely focused in a set of small "swing states" which only take up a minority of the population.



The other problem is that it allows the possibility that you can win a majority of college votes, but a minority of popular votes. For instance, in the 2000 election, more people voted for Gore than Bush, but because of the way they were divided up, Bush got more college votes and still won the election.

Answer 5

Iowa is not always important. Sometimes the winner of the Iowa caucuses ends up becoming the party's nominee, but not always.

In the electoral college system, your vote does "not count" if you lose statewide, because all of your state's electoral college votes will go to the candidate who won your state. Your vote never "counts" in some kind of nationwide tally of all votes in all 50 states and DC. Your vote "counts" only in terms of your own state.

Answer 6

No, it's not true.



Iowa gets a lot of publicity because it's first, and the winners will get a bunch more publicity.

It's no more important than any other state.



EVERY vote counts.

ALL states require their electoral college members to vote for the winners of the popular vote.



How to Become President of the United States

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-become-president-united-8671463.html?cat=31



About the Electoral College

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/

Answer 7

Iowa serves more along the lines in eliminating candidates, than in selecting the front runners. The constitution gives the states the authority to elect Presidents. Your vote counts in that states vote for the candidate that receives the most votes on the states ballot

Answer 8

The Iowa Caucus is the first of all the caucuses and primaries to nominate a Presidential candidate. Your vote counts. What you were told is; if you live in a state which is going to be won by candidate X, a vote for candidate Y doesn't really help. But it still counts.

Answer 9

This is for the Republican primary. Usually people who win Iowa end up becoming the nominee

Answer 10

What do former aircraft have to do with Iowa?

Answer 11

You're studying politics and you can't even spell 'explain'?? That does NOT make sense.