Do you routinely check the news, listen to talk radio or podcasts, and complain about the state of the country today? If so, have you thought about putting your smartphone down, turning off the TV, and getting off the couch to do something about it? Here’s a few tips on how you can go about getting involved in politics.
In American politics, voting for a specific candidate instead of a party differs from many Western democracies. Our representative Republic allows candidates to self-nominate with a minimal party qualification, and for voters to pick their favorite candidate.
Directly voting for a candidate places a lot of responsibility on the individual voter, especially in down-ballot races that don’t have advertising budgets. Down-ballot races are often decided by chance, where variables such as ballot position, name length, pronounceability, gender, and other factors play a big role.
The two major parties in the United States – Republican and Democrat – are organized at the national, state and county levels, and these are the three levels where you can have sustained involvement. National delegations are filled by elected state party officials and often led by the state party chair. Party elections can be internal to the party, or on the party’s primary ballot.
When you receive your next primary ballot and it’s two pages of names you’ve never seen before, remember that these names may be for county executive committee, state executive committee, delegate, or other party positions. If people leave party office during the term, they’re normally backfilled for the remainder of the term by appointment or internal party vote depending on the applicable bylaws.
The county party is the first place to look if you’ve decided to get off the couch. Search for your county, state, and party of choice in your web browser, and when you get to the website of the county party look around. (Try not to get angry since the websites are normally built and maintained by volunteers.)
The first thing to look for are clubs, such as those in Madison County. Club meetings are normally held at mealtimes and include stump speeches and Q&A segments with candidates, elected officials, and a diverse mix of political speakers. They’re a great way to get to know other people who are interested in politics, to meet elected officials and candidates, and to hear their positions on the issues. But you don’t have to run for a party seat to be part of a political club. You can normally just show up and participate. If the club serves food, they’ll probably ask you to pay a fee and RSVP in the future.
County and state executive committees normally elect party positions based on geographical and at-large designations. The number of party positions changes every four years based on presidential voting. Some of these positions are hard to fill while others are highly contested.
County executive committee members generally attend monthly meetings, vote on party issues, and serve on subcommittees. State executive committee members, meanwhile, might attend quarterly district meetings, semiannual state meetings, vote on party issues, and serve on subcommittees. State committees are large bodies compared to county committees, so there might be a smaller state steering committee headed by the state party chair that meets regularly.
Clubs are the conduit to the political parties, but if you attend and get inspired to run for a party seat at the county or state level, just ask an established club member to help you decipher the dates and requirements. In Alabama, several months before the off-year party primaries, there’ll be a party qualification. Candidates for political and party offices need to fill out a form and pay a qualification fee to be on the ballot.
Don’t worry if you’re new. The voters don’t know the party officials, so if your last name is at the beginning of the alphabet and alphabetical order is used for the ballots, then you have a better than average chance of winning. You don’t have to campaign for these party seats unless you want to, so give it a shot if you’re interested.
But if you win, get ready for lots and lots of meetings! It’s important to note that you don’t have to be elected to attend most meetings and actively participate at the club or subcommittee level.
The Republican and Democrat parties have ballot access in the United States. During election cycles, the parties control access to their primary ballots through candidate qualification. That means they make sure candidates are actually aligned with the party they claim. In Alabama for example, if you recently supported the Democrats, you’ll find that you might be barred from participating as a Republican.
If a candidate wants to run as an independent or third-party candidate, they normally need thousands of valid signatures to appear on the general election ballot. If you’re not familiar with the inner workings of politics, ballot access is a big deal. That’s because candidates that win party primaries are placed on the general election ballot as their party’s nominee.
So, if you’re still interested in getting more involved in party politics, don’t wait, click on the Alabama Republican Party website and find your county contact. Give them a call or shoot them an email right away, you won’t regret it.
Dr. Tobias Vogt von Heselholt (shortened to “Vote”) is a retired U.S. Army officer, former professor, author, and elected member of the Alabama Republican Executive Committee. For more, see his author page at Amazon.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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