Summary Of The 2016 Presidential Election

The 2016 Presidential Election is slowly approaching its end. Jokes and memes are subtly fading as November draws near and as the primaries wrap up. Seeing that they are finishing up, what are the results so far? Since the first caucus on February 1 until the last primary on June 4, votes are being sent in around the U.S. Oddly, voters aren’t voting for their favored candidates directly, but voting for the candidates’ representatives. What’s happening right now is called the primaries (and caucuses!). The purpose of primaries is to choose delegates to support a certain candidate during national conventions. Delegates basically represent a candidate’s votes at the convention. The two main types of primaries are open or closed. Open primaries
allow registered voters to vote for delegates in any party they choose, while closed primaries only allow voters to vote for the party they are affiliated with. Most states hold primaries that fall between open and closed. In primaries, voters vote using secret ballots, while the less common method, the caucus, has voters actually attend the event and vote there. So far, it’s been quite evident who is leading in the primaries. The Republican Party has only one candidate who has not dropped out yet: Donald Trump. With 1,135 delegates as of May 12, Trump is close to winning the Republican nomination. The Democratic Party has former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the lead with 2,240 delegates, while Senator Bernie Sanders trails behind with 1,473. The latest results are from the West Virginia primary on Wednesday, May 10. During that event, Trump earned thirty delegates, Clinton earned eleven, and Senator Sanders with eighteen. Future primary dates are May 24, June 4, June 5, June 7, and June 14, the last primary.