US Politics / Mike Robb / 16 January 2008 /

What has really been highlighted by the Democrats in Michigan is the pointlessness of holding a primary there at all...

Barack Obama and John Edwards both removed themselves from the ballot in Michigan as a result of the controversy surrounding the decision to ban delegates from voting in the selection of the candidate at party conventions. Both the Democrats and Republicans agreed that primaries should not take place before 5th February, with the exceptions of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. As a result, the Democrats effectively ruled that the Michigan contest will have no impact on the final result, while the Republicans halved the impact.

There was a late spike at 0118 in support of 'uncommitted' as it became clear that Clinton was not going to win by the margin expected. Considering she was the only actual candidate on the ballot paper, Clinton's 15 point victory is weak.

The primary system is complex by UK standards. What does 'banning delegates' actually mean? Here is a basic look at how it works:

1. Voters in each state choose which candidate they prefer, either in a caucus (a meeting) or a primary (run the same way as a normal election - voting booth style)

2. Each state has a specific number of 'delegates' according to their population, with the bigger states having more. These delegates go to the party conventions (in August for the Democrats or September for the Republicans) and 'vote' according to the preferences displayed by their electorates

3. The candidate with the most number of delegates wins the party's nomination

What could be important this time round, especially for the Republicans, is that delegates whose candidate drops out are then guided by the preference of that candidate. For example, in 2004 the delegates of John Edwards voted for John Kerry at the convention.

For more information, data or comment e-mail michael.robb@betfair.com

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