Here is everything you need to know about Super Tuesday and why it’s important this election season.
What is Super Tuesday: Super Tuesday is the day when the most states hold their primaries and caucuses. Since so many states participate on Super Tuesday it gives the presidential candidates the opportunity to gain the most delegate nominations. Also, it is a great representation of the future nominee for the Republican and Democratic party. Candidates aspire to do well on Super Tuesday in order to secure their party’s nomination.
Who participated in Super Tuesday: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia.
Results of Super Tuesday: For the Republicans, the winner was Donald Trump. For the Democrats, the winner was Hillary Clinton.
What does this mean: If a candidate wants to win the nomination from the Republican party, then that candidate must capture at least 1,237 of the delegate votes to win. As of Sunday, Trump has 382, Cruz has 300 and Rubio has 128. For a candidate to win the Democratic nomination, the candidate must get at least 2,383 of the delegate votes. Clinton has 1,121 and Sanders has 481.
If the candidate of your choice is not in the top you can change that by registering to vote and voting for your desired caudate. If you live in the state of California, you can register here. California does not have caucuses, but we do have primaries. The primaries in California are “modified” closed primaries. This means that if you want to vote for a certain candidate, then at the time you register you must identify yourself under that candidate’s party. For example, if you want to vote for Bernie Sanders but you are registered as a Republican, then you will not be able to do so. In this case you must register or re-register as a Democrat.
Also, for the state of California if you are registered as “no party preference” you can only vote for the Democratic Party, American Independent Party, and the Libertarian Party. This means that if you have a Republican candidate in mind but have not specifically registered as a Republican, you will not be able to vote for that candidate.
Sources: Politico.com