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Forget trying to sift through the presidential candidates' positions on the economy, immigration and abortion. The real challenge on Super Tuesday is understanding what the heck a delegate is, and what so many of them are doing on your ballot.
Republican and Democratic presidential nominees aren't chosen by popular vote, but through an indirect system of delegates. Voters determine which delegates go to the national conventions, and those delegates vote on their choice for presidential candidate.
Confused? Don't be. Here's a crash course in understanding the delegate system:
Q: What is a delegate?
A: Delegates are the people who attend the Republican and Democratic national conventions and cast votes to determine the parties' presidential nominees. Some delegates, all of whom have "pledged" support to a particular candidate, are elected. Others are appointed or, in the case of high-ranking party leaders or elected officials, automatically earn a spot.
Q: On the ballot, there's a place for me to vote for a presidential candidate and a place for me to vote for delegates. Which one actually counts?
A: In the Republican primary, your vote for presidential candidate means zip; the delegate vote is what really matters. In the 14th Congressional District, the four Republican delegates with the most votes, regardless of the candidate they've pledged to support, are the delegates who will go to the convention. So if you cast a vote for Mitt Romney but then choose all of John McCain's delegates, Romney's not really getting your support.
Q: I keep hearing about super-delegates. What are those?
A: Super-delegates are delegates chosen to attend the conventions who have not pledged their support to a candidate, typically current and former elected officials and party leaders. Unlike elected delegates, super-delegates can vote for whomever they like.
Q: How many delegates does a candidate need to win?
A: Candidates need a majority of the delegates to win the party nomination. The magic numbers this year are 2,025 delegates for Democratic candidates and 1,191 delegates on the Republican side.
The conventions this year are scheduled Aug. 25-28 for Democrats and Sept. 1-4 for Republicans. But candidates often sew up the nomination by getting the required number of delegates well before the conventions.
