Turn on the television, open a newspaper or browse a news Web site and you are guaranteed to find news about the election. But what many of those articles do not focus on is how the primaries and caucuses actually work.
And when the Democratic race is separated by only 131 pledged delegates according to CNN's count, it is useful to know how each and every delegate is awarded to a candidate.
Explaining the primaries is not a simple task, however. Most states vary in how they run these elections to decide the presidential nominees. Usually they are settled through state laws and state political parties, according to Barbara Cockrell, director of operations of the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Most states hold primaries, except for Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, North Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Texas and Wyoming. Montana's Republican contest and the Democratic contests in New Mexico, Kansas and Idaho are also not determined through primaries.
Although exact operating procedures can vary by state for caucuses as well, Cockrell said voters generally gather together and cast their votes.
In primaries, on the other hand, people cast their ballots individually, much like in a general election.
But unlike the general election, in which candidates win all of the state's electoral votes, the majority of primaries award delegates based on locality or congressional district, Cockrell said.
Take Virginia, for example. On the Democratic side, Virginia has 83 pledged delegates, which are delegates awarded according to statewide vote, explained Danae Jones, communications director for the Democratic Party of Virginia. A candidate must receive at least 15 percent of the statewide vote to receive delegates, and if he or she passes that 15 percent benchmark, he or she is guaranteed delegates, he said.
Fifty-four of the 83 pledged delegates are elected at the congressional district level and are awarded to whichever candidate receives the most votes in that district. The other 29 are statewide delegates and are divided among candidates according to the percentage of the statewide vote they win.
During Virginia's Feb. 12 primary, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. received 54 pledged delegates, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. received 29.
But the complexities don't end there. In the race for the Democratic nomination, there are superdelegates in addition to pledged delegates. These superdelegates do not have to make their votes public until the Democratic National Convention -- which will be Aug. 25 to 28 -- and can vote according to their personal preference; they are not bound by the statewide vote.
Some of Virginia's superdelegates -- a total of 16 and two add-on unpledged delegates, who are similar to superdelegates -- have endorsed candidates, Jones said. Gov. Tim Kaine, for example, has thrown his support in for Obama.
Superdelegates are important, especially in a close race like the one unfolding this year.
"I think lots of people expect that it is altogether a possibility" for the Democratic nomination to be undecided until the superdelegates' votes are counted at the national convention, Jones said. "You can't say for sure ... if the race keeps going the way it has been, it is possible it could come down to August."
To win, the Democratic nominee must amass 2,025 delegatesthrough support from both pledged and superdelegates. To date, CNN reports that Obama has 1,618 and Clinton has 1,479. These numbers are an estimate, however, because they include superdelegates who can technically change their votes until the national convention.
The race for the Republican nomination is a bit simpler. In Virginia, Republican delegates are awarded in a similar fashion to a winner-take-all system, according to Josh Noland, director of communications for the Republican Party of Virginia.
Noland explained that of Virginia's 63 Republican delegates, 60 are awarded to the winner, who was John McCain this year. The other three are uncommitted delegates who vote at the Republican National Convention, which will be Sept. 1 to 4, 2008.
To win the national nomination, the Republican nominee must accrue 1,191 delegates, a number McCain passed March 4, making him the presumptive Republican nominee for president.
Throughout the battles within both the Republican and Democratic parties, Virginians expressed a high level of interest in the primaries. During Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when 24 primaries and caucuses were held, the Virginia State Board of Elections received 3,700 phone calls, Cockrell said, many of which were inquiries as to why Virginia polls were not open.
Cockrell estimated the voter turnout in Virginia was about 30 percent, which is slightly higher than average for a presidential primary.
Turnout within each party, however, may have been complicated by strategic voting. Virginia has an open primary system, in which voters can vote in either the Republican or Democratic race regardless of a voter's party affiliation.
Because McCain was leading his opponents by nearly a thousand delegates leading up to the Virginia primary, Republicans could have opted to vote in the Democratic race instead, either to vote for the Democratic candidate he or she preferred or for the candidate he or she believed would be most easily beaten by the Republican nominee.
"The reasons [for strategic voting] vary from just wanting to vote against Senator Clinton, depending on their thinking," Noland said. "Given that Virginia has an open primary system, people can follow their motives. It's difficult to tell how many [Republican voters crossed over]. When you look at a more heavily Republican precinct and see that more people voted in the Democratic primary than the Republican primary," one can assume some strategic voting occurred, Noland noted.
Third-year Law student Josh Levy, a leader with an Albemarle group of McCain volunteers, had a different view of strategic voting.
"Most Republicans would have had trouble pulling the lever for either Democratic nominee, even for strategic reasons," he said.
Levy, along with other University students, has been volunteering in connection with the primaries, from making phone calls and knocking on doors asking for support to traveling to other states for their primaries.
Fourth-year College student Jeff Kerestes, a member of both Hoos for Obama and Students for Barack Obama, a national group run by Obama's campaign, volunteered at a drop-in phone bank on the Lawn for the Virginia primary, where students could make a phone call reminding people to vote.
As far as Obama's progress nationally, Kerestes said he is pleased.
"I think he's doing really well, considering he's such an underdog," he said.
Clinton supporters are also satisfied with her progress, despite her current status as second-best.
"I'm very excited about her progress at this point," Hoos For Hillary Coordinator Sophia Brumby said. The "Ohio and Texas [contests] showed how close it is."
Brumby added that the constituencies Clinton is winning are those crucial to Democratic success in the general election.
Even so, Kerestes noted there is only a slight possibility at this point that Clinton can catch Obama.
"I do think right now by far he has the best chance," he said. "Mathematically, there's little chance for Hillary to catch up. She would have to win the remaining states by 60 or 65 percent ... unless the race changes dramatically."
Even though some have speculated that the closeness of the Democratic race will split the party when the general election rolls around, Levy pointed out that the suspense has some benefits as well.
"We are planning a couple parties to celebrate McCain's nomination," he said. "We have to keep our side fired up since the Democrats are staying fired up because of the battle" between the nominees.
With 11 Republican contests left and 10 Democratic, the race is far from over. Pennsylvania follows the Virgin Islands' Apr. 5 primary Apr. 22, and the state's 188 delegates are integral to the Democratic race.
Another hitch on the Democratic side are Michigan and Florida, which were both stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee because they moved their primaries ahead of Feb. 5 without permission. Clinton won both states, but Obama was not listed on the ballot in Michigan. While yesterday the Florida Democratic Party said they will not hold a second primary, Michigan is currently in negotations to redo their election so their delegates will count..
But above and beyond who is winning in the polls, which candidate is most worthy of our votes?
For Levy, McCain is the most qualified of the three to be president because he will make the strongest commander-in-chief, something he believes is important in a time of war. McCain "puts his country first, even ahead of his party and certainly ahead of himself, so you can count on him to do what he believes is right for everyone," he said. "And third, you can count on him to be straight with the American people about" his decisions, he added.
Brumby, however, stressed Clinton's work on issues important to both the American public and college students.
"College students respect the work she's done on issues that are important to college students, like health care and college affordability," she said.
Kerestes also emphasized Obama's universal appeal.
"Obama is the most genuine candidate," he said. "Contrary to claims of his lack of experience he has on the ground, he has a people-to-people experience. He's the candidate that has a great chance of bringing the world back into friendly conversation with the U.S."
While the final decision regarding who will become president of the United States in 2008 is a long way away, keeping an eye on the ever-changing race will not be difficult, given the competitive nature of this year's contest.
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