More on Primaries and Caucuses

While the winner of a party’s State Primary election is the candidate who gets the most votes, it is not a winner-takes-all. Each party has a certain number of delegates from that State who will be attending its national convention, where the final selection of the candidate happens. The percentage of votes won by a candidate in a State Primary translates into the percentage of delegates from that State who will vote for that candidate at the national convention.

Caucuses are conducted by the political parties themselves with registered members of that party in a city, town or county gathering to express support for a candidate. The combined recommendations of a political party’s state Caucuses determine its nominees for State or national offices.

They are usually between the months of February and June. Every State holds its own Primary election. Some States hold Caucuses, or combine Primary elections with Caucuses. In 2016, only 14 States are holding Caucuses: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories (American Samoa, Northern Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Super Tuesday is a Tuesday in the months of February or March when the largest number of States hold Primary elections. Super Tuesday is broadly considered to represent a presidential candidate's “first test of national electability” because it is held in geographically and socially diverse regions of the country. Given the large number of delegates that can be scooped up by candidates on Super Tuesday, those who win on this day usually go on to become their party’s candidate for the presidential election. This year’s Super Tuesday will be on March 1, 2016.