title: Essence

text: "Essence," in metaphysics, is often synonymous with the soul, and some existentialists argue that individuals gain their souls and spirits after they exist, that they develop their souls and spirits during their lifetimes. For Kierkegaard, however, the emphasis was upon essence as "nature." For him, there is no such thing as "human nature" that determines how a human will behave or what a human will be. First, he or she exists, and then comes property. Jean-Paul Sartre's more materialist and skeptical existentialism furthered this existentialist tenet by flatly refuting any metaphysical essence, any soul, and arguing instead that there is merely existence, with attributes as essence.


title: Essence

text: For the Madhyamaka Buddhists, 'Emptiness' (also known as Anatta or Anatman) is the strong assertion that:


title: Essence

text: However, the Madhyamaka also rejects the tenets of Idealism, Materialism or Nihilism; instead, the ideas of "truth" or "existence", along with any assertions that depend upon them, are limited to their function within the contexts and conventions that assert them, possibly somewhat akin to Relativism or Pragmatism. For the Madhyamaka, replacement paradoxes such as Ship of Theseus are answered by stating that the Ship of Theseus remains so (within the conventions that assert it) until it ceases to function as the Ship of Theseus.


title: Essence

text: In understanding any individual personality, a distinction is made between one's "Swadharma" (essence) and "Swabhava" (mental habits and conditionings of ego personality). Svabhava is the nature of a person, which is a result of his or her samskaras (impressions created in the mind due to one's interaction with the external world). These samskaras create habits and mental models and those become our nature. While there is another kind of svabhava that is a pure internal quality – smarana – we are here focusing only on the svabhava that was created due to samskaras (because to discover the pure, internal svabhava and smarana, one should become aware of one's samskaras and take control over them). Dharma is derived from the root "dhr" "to hold." It is that which holds an entity together. That is, Dharma is that which gives integrity to an entity and holds the core quality and identity (essence), form and function of that entity. Dharma is also defined as righteousness and duty. To do one's dharma is to be righteous, to do one's dharma is to do one's duty (express one's essence).


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church of Canada () is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church was founded in 1925 as a merger of four Protestant denominations with a total combined membership of about 600,000 members: the Methodist Church, Canada, the Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec, two-thirds of the congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the Association of Local Union Churches, a movement predominantly of the Canadian Prairie provinces. The Canadian Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church joined the United Church of Canada on January 1, 1968.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Membership peaked in 1964 at 1.1 million and has declined since that time. From 1991 to 2001, the number of people claiming an affiliation with the United Church decreased by 8%, the third largest decrease in mainstream Christian denominations in Canada. In 2011, Statistics Canada reported approximately 2 million people identifying as adherents. The 2021 Canadian Census found that more than 1 million Canadians (3.3% of the population) self-identified with the church, remaining the second-largest Christian denomination in Canada. Church statistics for the end of 2018 showed 388,363 members in 317,051 households under pastoral care, of whom 120,986 attend services regularly in 2,119 communities of faith representing 2,774 congregations.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church has a "council-based" structure, where each council (congregational, regional, or denominational) has specific responsibilities. In some areas, each of these councils has sole authority, while in others, approval of other councils is required before action is taken. (For example, a congregation requires regional council approval before a minister can be called or appointed to the congregation.) The policies of the church are inclusive and liberal: there are no restrictions of gender, sexual orientation or marital status for a person considering entering the ministry; interfaith marriages are recognized; communion is offered to all Christian adults and children, regardless of denomination or age.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In the early 20th century, the main Evangelical Protestant denominations in Canada were the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches. Many small towns and villages across Canada had all three, with the town's population divided among them. Especially on the prairies, it was difficult to find clergy to serve all these charges, and there were several instances where one minister would serve his congregation, but would also perform pastoral care for the other congregations that lacked a minister. On the prairies, a movement to unite all three major Protestant denominations began, resulting in the Association of Local Union Churches.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Facing a "de facto" union in the western provinces, the three denominations began a slow process of union talks that eventually produced a "Basis for Union".


title: United Church of Canada

text: However, not all elements of the churches involved were happy with the idea of uniting under one roof; a substantial minority of Presbyterians remained unconvinced of the virtues of church union. Their threat to the entire project was resolved by giving individual Presbyterian congregations the right to vote on whether to enter or remain outside the United Church. In the end, 302 out of 4,509 congregations of the Presbyterian Church (211 from southern Ontario) chose to reconstitute themselves as a "continuing" Presbyterian Church in Canada.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church of Canada is an amalgamation of the Union of Methodists, Presbyterian and Congregational churches.


title: United Church of Canada

text: With the three denominations now in agreement about uniting, the church leaders approached the government of Canada to pass legislation concerning transfer of property rights. The legislation passed, June 27, 1924, and was effective June 10, 1925.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church of Canada was inaugurated at a large worship service at Toronto's Mutual Street Arena on June 10, 1925. Participants were handed 38-page order of service containing the full text of the liturgy, prayers, hymns, and music. Hymns from all three churches were sung: "All people that on earth do dwell" from the Scottish Presbyterian psalm tradition; the Methodist favourite "O for a thousand tongues to sing" by Charles Wesley; the Congregationalist "O God of Bethel"; and "When I survey the wondrous cross" by the British Nonconformist, Isaac Watts.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The ecumenical tone of the new church was set at this first General Council. The former Methodist General Superintendent S. D. Chown was considered the leading candidate to become the first Moderator because the Methodist Church made up the largest segment of the new United Church. However, in a surprise move, Dr. Chown graciously stepped aside in favour of George C. Pidgeon, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church and principal spokesperson for the uniting Presbyterians, in the hopes that this would strengthen the resolve of the Presbyterians who had chosen to join the new Church.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The crest designed for the new church is a "vesica piscis", an early Christian symbol that evoked an upended fish (the initials of the phrase "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour"; in Greek: ἰχθύς, "ichthys", meaning "fish"). The central saltire is also the Greek letter Chi, first letter of "Χριστός", Greek for "Christ". Within three of the four quadrants are symbols of the founding churches: Presbyterianism (the Burning Bush), Methodism (the dove), and Congregationalism (the open Bible). In the bottom quadrant, the alpha and omega represents the ever-living God (Revelation 1:8). The motto "Ut omnes unum sint" recalls Christ’s “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17:21: "That all may be one". The entire crest resembles the emblem of the Church of Scotland.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2012, the Mohawk phrase ""Akwe Nia'tetewá:neren"" ("All my relations") was added to the perimeter, and the background colours of the four quadrants of the crest were changed to reflect the traditional colours of a typical First Nations medicine wheel.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1930, just as mergers of the congregations, colleges and administrative offices of the various denominations were completed and the "United Church Hymnary" was published, Canada was hit by the Great Depression. Although membership remained stable, attendance and givings fell. In the face of overwhelming unemployment, some in the church, both clergy and laity, called for a radical Christian socialist alternative such as the Fellowship for a Christian Social Order. Other more conservative members felt drawn to the message of the Oxford Group that focussed on the wealthier members of society. The great majority of members between these two extremes simply sought to help the unemployed.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In the United States, Methodists had been ordaining women from 1880, but it was still a contentious issue in Canada, and it was not until 1936 that the Reverend Lydia Emelie Gruchy of Saskatchewan Conference became the first woman in the United Church to be ordained and, in 1953, she became the first Canadian woman to receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The Second World War was also a divisive issue. Some who had declared themselves pacifist before the war now struggled to reconcile their philosophy with the reality around them. Others remained pacifist—some 65 clergy signed "A Witness Against War" in 1939. But the church as a whole, although it did not support conscription, supported the overall war effort, both on the home front and by providing chaplains for the armed forces.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Although the forced relocation of Japanese Canadians away from the West Coast was supported by most members across Canada, church leaders and missionaries in B.C. spoke out against it, and the churches on the West Coast set up an Emergency Japanese Committee to help fight for the rights of the dislocated people.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1943, the Anglican Church invited other denominations to union talks, and the United Church responded enthusiastically; by 1946, the two churches had issued a statement on mutual ministry. In a similar ecumenical vein, the United Church was one of the founding bodies of the Canadian Council of Churches in 1944 and the World Council of Churches in 1946.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1925, The United Church assumed responsibility for 12 native residential schools that were designed to assimilate native children into Canadian culture. By the 1940s, thinking had begun to change about the underlying assumptions, and in 1949, the church began to close the schools in its care. The last residential school under United Chuch stewardship closed in 1969.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church continued to espouse causes that were not politically popular, issuing statements supporting universal health care and the People's Republic of China at its 15th General Council (1952-54) at a time when these were considered radical concepts in North America.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Membership and givings increased dramatically as post-war parents started to bring their young families—the Baby Boomers—to church.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Talks with the Anglican Church had not made significant headway during the decade, but in 1958, the two churches decided to continue the conversation.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1962, two women's auxiliary organizations, Woman's Association and Woman's Missionary Society, join together to form the United Church Women (UCW). That same year, the United and Anglican Churches jointly published "Growth in Understanding", a study guide on union, and on June 1, 1965 the "Principles of Union" between the United Church and the Anglican Church. The spirit of ecumenism with other denominations stayed strong throughout the decade, culminating in 1968 when the Canada Conference of The Evangelical United Brethren Church joined the United Church.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The high tide mark of membership was reached in 1965 when the church recorded 1,064,000 members. However, there were already rumblings of discontent in the church: that same year, Pierre Berton wrote "The Comfortable Pew", a bestseller that was highly critical of Canadian churches, and a United Church "Commission on Ministry in the 20th Century" was appointed in response to growing frustration from congregations, presbyteries, and ministers about the role of ministry. The church lost 2,027 members in 1966, a decline of only two-tenths of a percent, but significantly it marked the first time since amalgamation that membership had fallen.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The Vietnam War brought new controversies to the church when in 1968, the secretary of the national Evangelism and Social Service Committee, the Reverend Ray Hord, offered emergency aid to American Vietnam draft dodgers; the General Council Executive disassociated itself from the decision but within two years it became church policy.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1971, the ecumenical movement reached its height as a joint commission the United and Anglican Churches and the Disciples of Christ approved a "Plan of Union", and "The Hymn Book", a joint publication of the United and Anglican Churches was published. The tide quickly turned though, and in 1975, the Anglican House of Bishops and National Executive Council declared that the "Plan of Union" was unacceptable. However, the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, and United churches did agree to recognize the validity of Christian baptisms performed in any of these denominations.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Membership continued to decline slowly throughout the decade, despite a report that lay ministry was on the increase.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1980, at the 29th General Council, the commissioning of diaconal ministers as a part of ordered ministry was approved.


title: United Church of Canada

text: On August 16, 1980, the 28th General Council elected the first female Moderator, the Reverend Lois Wilson.


title: United Church of Canada

text: On August 17, 1980, a United Church of Canada task force released "In God's Image", its report on sexual ethics which recommended the admission of homosexuals into the ministry and tolerance of premarital sex. Although the report accepted abortion under qualified circumstances, it rejected abortion on demand.


title: United Church of Canada

text: With union talks with the Anglicans already at end, talks with the Disciples of Christ also ended in 1985.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1988, the 32nd General Council chose to end investment in South Africa, apologize to First Nations congregations for past denials of native spirituality by the church, and elected the first Moderator of Asian descent, Sang Chul Lee. However, those events were largely overshadowed when the commissioners passed a statement called "Membership, Ministry and Human Sexuality" that stated "all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, who profess their faith in Jesus Christ are welcome to be or become members of The United Church of Canada" and that "all members of the United Church are eligible to be considered for ordered ministry." Taken together, these two statements opened the door for openly gay men and women to join the ministry. Many members opposed this, and over the next four years, membership fell by 78,184. In some cases, entire congregations split, with a sizeable faction—sometimes led by the minister—leaving to form an independent church. Some of those opposed to the gay ordination issue chose to stay in the church, and formed the "Community of Concern", a voice of conservatism within the church.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In the 1990s, the United Church faced the legacy of cultural assimilation and child abuse in the residential schools that it had once helped to operate.


title: United Church of Canada

text: On May 24, 1992, Tim Stevenson was the first openly gay minister ordained by the United Church of Canada.


title: United Church of Canada

text: On August 17, 1992, the first Native Canadian Moderator, the Reverend Stan McKay, a Cree man, was elected at the 34th General Council. Two years later, the church established a "Healing Fund". This was followed in 1998 by an apology made by the church to former students of United Church Indian Residential Schools.


title: United Church of Canada

text: At the 35th General Council in 1994, commissioners voted to have General Councils every three years rather than every two years. This also increased the length of term of Moderators from two to three years.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The original General Council office of the church built in 1925 resided on increasingly valuable land on St. Clair Avenue in downtown Toronto, Ontario. In 1995, facing increasing financial pressure from falling donations, the church sold the building and moved out to the suburb of Etobicoke.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1996, a new hymnary, "Voices United", replaced the joint United-Anglican "The Hymn Book". Response from congregations was enthusiastic, and by 2010, over 300,000 copies had been printed.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1996, the Committee on Archives and History compiled the "Guide to family history research in the archival repositories of the United Church of Canada".


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 1997, the Reverend Bill Phipps was elected Moderator at the 36th General Council. Controversy again descended on the church when later the same year, Phipps stated in an interview that 'I don't believe Jesus was God' and that he did not believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In the new century, membership and givings both continued to drop, and in 2001 the General Council offices were reorganized as a cost-cutting measure.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2005, the church urged the Canadian Parliament to vote in favour of same-sex marriage legislation; after the legislation had been passed, the church urged the government not to reopen the issue.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The church continued to deal with the consequences of the Native residential school issue. In 2005, the church welcomed the Agreement in Principle announced by the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations, which outlined a comprehensive resolution package for former students of Indian Residential Schools; and the following year, the church agreed to sign the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2006, the 39th General Council approved the use of a generous bequest to start up "Emerging Spirit", a promotional campaign aimed at drawing 30- to 40-year-olds into a conversation about faith. As part of this campaign, "Emerging Spirit" used controversial magazine advertisements featuring, among other images, a bobble-head Jesus, a marriage cake with two grooms holding hands, Jesus sitting on Santa's chair in a mall, and a can of whipped cream with the caption "How much fun can sex be before it's a sin?".


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2012, the 41st General Council elected Gary Paterson as the first openly gay Moderator. The commissioners also voted to invite First Nations peoples to become signatories to the Basis of Union. (In 1925, several aboriginal congregations of the original founding churches were automatically made part of the new United Church although the congregations had not been asked to participate in church Union negotiations, and had not been asked to sign the Basis of Union document.) In addition, the original church crest (adopted in 1944 with French added in 1980) was modified by changing the background colours of the four quadrants of the crest, as well as adding the Mohawk phrase ""Akwe Nia'Tetewá:neren"" ("All my relations") to the crest's perimeter.


title: United Church of Canada

text: After much debate, Commissioners also voted to adopt the recommendations of the Report of the Working Group on Israel/Palestine Policy, which included a boycott of products from Israeli settlements and a campaign of "encouraging members of the United Church to avoid any and all products produced in the settlements." This was the church's first boycott since an anti-apartheid boycott against South Africa in the 1980s. According to the report, the authors consulted with Canadian-based Palestinian organizations, as well as "Jewish rabbis, individuals and organizations" among others. Still it incited controversy, with several groups campaigning against the decision, including protests of the decision by several Canadian Jewish groups.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2015, at the 42nd General Council, delegates voted in favour of several "denomination-changing" proposals, including a reorganization from a four-court structure to a three-council structure; elimination of "settlement", the practice of telling newly ordained ministers where they would first serve; reorganization of the process of finding and training ministers; and a new funding model. These changes were subsequently approved by the wider church, and ratified at the 43rd General Council in July 2018.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2015, a debate emerged regarding whether or not United Church minister Gretta Vosper, an avowed atheist, was suitable for ministry. The United Church instituted an ecclesiastical hearing that could have led to her dismissal as minister. However, in 2018, Vosper and Toronto Conference reached a settlement in which all outstanding matters were resolved. Vosper continues to serve at West Hill United Church. In response to this internal decision, the offices of the General Council released a statement saying, "This [decision] doesn't alter in any way the belief of the United Church of Canada in God, a God most fully revealed to us as Christians in and through Jesus Christ. Our church's statements of faith over the years have all been grounded in this understanding." A survey of 1,353 "United Church ministry personnel" published by the "Vancouver Sun" found that "a majority of the respondents (almost 95%) affirmed a belief in God, with a large number (almost 80%) affirming a belief in a supernatural, theistic God".


title: United Church of Canada

text: Until 1969, the United Church of Canada was involved with and supported the Canadian Indian residential school system, which resulted in a painful legacy for many Indigenous people and their communities. Of approximately 80,000 students alive today, about 10 percent attended United Church-run schools.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In the late 1990s, the United Church of Canada issued multiple apologies for its complicity in a structurally abusive program of genocide:


title: United Church of Canada

text: In 2019, the United Church of Canada allocated $150,000 (of the previous year's 33.7M in donations) to initiatives aimed at ameliorating the persisting consequences of the government-sponsored, church-operated residential school system for Canada's indigenous communities.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In May 2022, Kindred Works, a real estate company, was started in association with the United Church. Kindred Works operates as the asset manager for the United Property Resource Corporation, which is owned by the United Church and tasked with getting positive social utility from church property. Kindred Works aims to renovate existing United Church properties by adding rental units sufficient to house 34,000 people over 15 years. One-third of the new company's projects are planned as below-market rental properties partially financed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. All projects will have KPMB Architects as lead designers. At it launch, it had eight projects in progress, four of which, including the St. Luke's United Church are in Toronto, with twenty projected to be started by the end of the year.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The rules for governance are set out in "The Manual", first written in 1925, and updated on a regular basis.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The voice and face of the church is the Moderator, who is elected to a three-year term at each General Council. The duties of the Moderator include:


title: United Church of Canada

text: Currently, the Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, Kwisa’lakw holds the position following her election at the 44th General Council in August 2022.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The clergy of the United Church are called "ministers". There are two "streams", "ordered ministry" and "lay ministry". Ordered ministry includes "ordained" ministers and "diaconal" ministers. Lay ministry refers to "licensed lay worship leaders", "designated lay ministers" (DLM), "sacraments elders" and "congregational designated ministers" (CDM). There are no restrictions on gender, sexual orientation, age, or marital status for any branches of ministry.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church believes that the Bible is central to the Christian faith and was written by people who were inspired by God. The church also believes that the circumstances under which the books of the Bible were written were of a particular place and time, and some things cannot be reconciled with our lives today, such as slavery and the condemnation of homosexuality. The United Church of Canada uses the historical-critical method of interpreting the bible.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Communion is the ritual sharing of the elements of bread and wine (or, more commonly, grape juice) as a remembrance of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his followers. It is usually celebrated at a table at the front of the sanctuary, where the minister blesses the elements before they are distributed to the congregation. The Church practises open communion, with no restriction regarding age or membership, as the sacrament is open to young children and Christians from other denominations.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The actual distribution can take several forms, including passing a tray of bread cubes and another tray of small juice glasses from person to person, and then eating the bread and drinking the juice in unison; and "intinction", where each person takes a piece of bread, dips it into a cup of juice and then eats the juice-soaked bread.


title: United Church of Canada

text: There is no guideline for frequency. Some congregations celebrate communion once a month, others on a quarterly basis.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Baptism is the first step in church membership, where the parents make a profession of faith on behalf of the infant in the hope that their child will later confirm that profession at or around the age of 13.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church practices infant baptism, but in cases where a person was not baptized as an infant, baptism can be performed at any age. In the case of infant baptism, the parents of the infant, before the congregation, agree to a series of statements about the beliefs of the United Church on behalf of their child. They also promise to encourage the child to seek full membership at an appropriate time. The members of the congregation also promise the parents that they will help to raise the child in a Christian community. The minister then places water on the candidate's head three times (expressing the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and traces a cross on the person's forehead with water. Baptism by immersion is also an option for adults who request it.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In the 1970s, the United Church reached an ecumenical agreement with the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, and Anglican churches in Canada that baptisms within these churches are mutually recognized as valid. Further to that, the United Church recognizes the validity of any baptism by another denomination that was performed with water and in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The church attempts to welcome everyone, regardless of age, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability. In the same manner, there is also no restriction on those interested in entering ministry.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The United Church recognizes and celebrates all legal marriages, including same-sex couples, previously divorced people, and couples of different religions. The actual policy of whom to marry is left up to the church council of each community of faith. For instance, one congregation might not allow same-sex marriages to be performed in their building, while another allows all marriages regardless of sexual orientation.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The church believes that there are many paths to God. The United Church's path is through Jesus Christ, but the church also recognizes that Christians' understanding of this is limited by an incomplete comprehension of God; their belief is that the Holy Spirit is also at work through other non-Christian faiths.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The church supports the right of women to have access to safe abortions that are covered by provincial health care, but also supports better access to contraception, sexual education, and counselling that might eventually make abortion unnecessary.


title: United Church of Canada

text: A full member is one who has been baptised, either as infant, child, youth or adult, and has made a public profession of faith before the congregation. Membership is not required in order to worship at a United Church, and many who regularly attend worship are adherents rather than members.


title: United Church of Canada

text: In order to become a full member, a person goes through a process called "confirmation". This is offered to adults (starting at around age 13) and usually involves a series of classes about the beliefs of the United Church. Following this, the candidate makes a public profession of faith before the congregation, thereby "confirming" the statements made by his or her parents during baptism. If the person is unbaptised, the minister baptises the person before the profession of faith. The new member's name is then entered on the official Roll of Members for that congregation.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Only members can be a part of a congregation's board or council, and only members can vote at congregational meetings, although members can vote to extend voting privileges to adherents.


title: United Church of Canada

text: Although confirmation takes place at the congregational level, the person is a member of the entire United Church of Canada, not just one congregation; therefore membership can be transferred freely from congregation to congregation.


title: United Church of Canada

text: A congregation may remove members from its roll for non-attendance. ("The Manual" suggests an absence of three years, but the congregation is free to set its own period of time)


title: United Church of Canada

text: A. C. Forrest, the editor of the "United Church Observer" in the 1960s and 1970s (and by extension the United Church itself) came under strong attack from the Canadian Jewish community for frequent editorial espousal of Palestinian rights in Israel, on the West Bank and in Gaza; many within the United Church were also uncomfortable with Forrest's position, though ultimately the church adjudged a plurality of opinion on this (and other matters) as consistent with United Church open-mindedness.


title: United Church of Canada

text: The "National Post" has published several articles critical of the United Church of Canada. (August 19, 2009: "United Church is blind to true suffering"; August 14, 2009: "United Church's uncertain future") An article by Charles Lewis, published on May 14, 2011, set out what Lewis sees as the issues that beset the United Church: the church's "big tent" approach to believers, accepting even atheists as members; and lack of doctrinal orthodoxy.


title: Sana Amanat

text: Sana Amanat is an American comic book editor and an executive of production and development at Marvel Studios, having formerly been the Director of Content and Character Development at Marvel Comics. She has worked on comics such as "Captain Marvel", "Hawkeye", "," and "Ms. Marvel". Amanat is known for co-creating Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, the first Muslim-American superhero with a solo Marvel Comics series.


title: Sana Amanat

text: Amanat was born in New Jersey to Pakistani immigrants. Her family is Muslim. Throughout her childhood, Amanat had trouble fitting in and struggled with self-identity.


title: Sana Amanat

text: Amanat studied political science with a focus on the Middle East at Barnard College at Columbia University in 2004.


title: Sana Amanat

text: After college, Amanat worked in magazine publishing for a few years. She then worked for an indie comic book company, Virgin Comics. There, Amanat learned about graphic storytelling. Two years later, the company went out of business.


title: Sana Amanat

text: Amanat's next career move was to join Marvel Comics in 2009. According to Amanat, an executive at Marvel approached her for the job because she was different from their average employee. She said that the executive told her she had "something different to offer than the regular fanboy who has read comics since he was a kid. She has a different voice, and they need her voice in order to change Marvel." Amanat runs the annual Women of Marvel panel at Comic Con and does work to make Marvel characters more diverse. , Amanat has also co-hosted the Women of Marvel podcast; by 2020, the podcast had released over 200 episodes.


title: Sana Amanat

text: At TEDxTeen 2014, Amanat gave a talk titled "Myths, Misfits & Masks" where she spoke on "how societal constructs and stereotype affect self-image and worth and how comic book storytelling in particular helps manage the expectations of others through a positive lens".


title: Sana Amanat

text: In 2014, she co-created Marvel's first solo series, the relaunched "Ms. Marvel" comic, to feature a female Muslim superhero; the series was headlined by a new character, Kamala Khan. The conception of Khan came about during a conversation between Amanat and Marvel editor Stephen Wacker. Amanat said, "I was telling him some crazy anecdote about my childhood, growing up as a Muslim American. He found it hilarious." The pair then told G. Willow Wilson about the concept and Wilson became eager to jump aboard the project. Amanat said that the series came from a "desire to explore the Muslim-American diaspora from an authentic perspective." "Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal" was the best-selling graphic novel in October 2014 and it won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2015. Several volumes of the series have been on "The New York Times" Best Seller list of paperback graphic books. As of August 2018, Ms. Marvel has sold half a million trade paperbacks, not including digital sales. "Ms. Marvel" has also sold well digitally, and has at times been Marvel's top digital seller overall.


title: Sana Amanat

text: Amanat has been the Director of Content and Character Development at Marvel Comics . "Vox" called her the "Shonda Rhimes of Marvel comics" in 2015. Amanat was co-executive producer on the animated television film "" (2018) and the subsequent animated specials in the Marvel Rising series. She was also co-executive producer on the unscripted documentary series "Marvel's Hero Project" (2019). Amanat joined Marvel Studios by mid-2019, where she is an executive of production and development. She is as an executive producer on Marvel Studios' "Ms. Marvel" (2022), a Disney+ television adaptation based on the comic series of the same name; she cameos in the third episode of the series.


title: Sana Amanat

text: In her Ted Talk, Amanat stated that "the big idea behind "Ms. Marvel" [was] very much about minority representation, the bigger idea was about finding your authentic self". While creating the comic, she drew on her own experience as the child of Pakistani immigrants in the New Jersey suburbs in hopes that the next generation will not experience identity rejection as she did through a relatable superhero.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: Jason's Lyric is a 1994 American erotic romantic psychological drama film, written by Bobby Smith Jr., directed by Doug McHenry, who co-produced the film with George Jackson and Marilla Lane Ross, and starring Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett, Bokeem Woodbine, Treach, Eddie Griffin, Lahmard Tate, Lisa Nicole Carson, and Forest Whitaker. Set in Third Ward, Houston, Texas, the story is about two mentally scarred brothers who choose different paths in dealing with their tragic childhood. When the older brother finds love, he starts facing tough choices: continue to feel family responsibility for his younger brother, or follow his heart to be with his girlfriend.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: As children, Jason and Joshua Alexander witnessed the fatal shooting of their abusive father, Mad Dog (Forest Whitaker), one night when he drunkenly attacked their mother. The family tragedy leaves deep scars and affects the two brothers to choose different paths in their future. Jason (Allen Payne) becomes a responsible young man who works as an assistant manager and sales clerk in a Houston electronic shop and lives with his hard-working mom, Gloria (Suzzanne Douglas). Joshua (Bokeem Woodbine) has just been released from prison. Previously traumatized by his late father, Joshua has become a volatile, disturbed ex-con who is bound for a violent end. Jason and his mother try their best to make Joshua repent and change both his attitude and his ways. Unfortunately, Joshua has difficulties in staying out of trouble with both law and authority.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: One day in the middle of his working hour, a beautiful young woman named Lyric (Jada Pinkett), walks into the shop to buy a television. Falling instantly in love with her, Jason desperately tries everything to pursue her. At first, Lyric rejects Jason's attempts to get closer to her, but his persistence, sincerity, kindness, and humor eventually melt her heart and change her attitude. As Jason spends more time with Lyric, he becomes inspired to do more romantic things in order to win her love. These include: borrowing a city bus for themselves to go on a date, setting up a mock picnic followed by slow dancing in an abandoned bus station, and riding in a rowboat in the bayou until the two end up kissing and making love in the woods that magically turn into a flower field, symbolizing their blooming love and unbridled passion. Despite his life improving by dating Lyric, Jason is still haunted by multiple episodic nightmares of his childhood.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: Meanwhile, Lyric's brother, Alonzo (Treach), is setting up a plan to rob a bank with his gang and Joshua joins in. Lyric overhears their conversation about the robbery plan and immediately tells Jason about it. Lyric warns Jason not to cross her brother, and he promises her to only talk to Joshua, followed by offering her a literal town escape together. Lyric delightfully accepts that they agree to meet at the bayou. On the following day, the robbery goes wrong as Joshua arrives late. Even worse, he causes bedlam by independently terrorizing and beating one of the bank customers, although he escapes with the gang before the police arrive. As punishment for botching the plan, Joshua is brutally tortured by Alonzo and his gang. Back at home, as Jason informs his mom about his and Lyric's agreement to move away together, Joshua returns home covered in blood, severely wounded. Enraged, Jason breaks his promise to Lyric by confronting Alonzo to avenge his brother, ensuing a vicious fight in a public restroom.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: Jason reluctantly calls off his and Lyric's plan to escape town together, reasoning that Joshua would always need him, much to Lyric's utter dismay. When she furiously questions him about the nightmares that tie him to keep saving his ungrateful brother, Jason eventually opens up about his tragic family history that left him a lifetime of haunting guilt. It is revealed that after young Joshua pointed his mother's gun at Mad Dog, Jason wrestled it away from him, inadvertently killing Mad Dog himself. Having finally understood his lifelong trauma, Lyric comforts Jason. Nevertheless, she advises him to walk away from his incorrigible brother, if he wants them to stay together.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: Later in the evening, while Joshua is preparing a gun in the bar, Jason starts packing his suitcase at home after earning his mom's blessing for his wish to be with Lyric. Unbeknownst to Joshua, Rat (Eddie Griffin), their good friend, notices him from the same bar and is quickly aware of his intentions. Rat immediately warns Jason about Joshua's attempt to kill Alonzo and anyone connected and/or related to him, including Lyric. As Joshua arrives at Lyric's house, he begins shooting down Alonzo's two crew members as personal revenge and finds Lyric in her bedroom. Jason races to Lyric's house and soon finds Joshua holding her at gunpoint, angrily asking about Alonzo's whereabouts as well as taking his jealousy out on her for taking away his older brother. Fed up with his brother's continual selfishness and disregard for others' well-being, Jason draws his gun at Joshua to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, Joshua accidentally shoots Lyric on the shoulder. Horrified and devastated, Jason tearfully takes the injured and unconscious Lyric with him and eventually walks away from Joshua for good. Feeling abandoned, Joshua loses his will to live and decides to kill himself, in earshot of everyone outside. Jason carries Lyric out of her home and takes her to the waiting ambulance.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: The film ends with Jason and the newly-recovered Lyric riding on a bus together, now enjoying their freedom to start a new life.


title: Jason's Lyric

text: "Jason's Lyric" received generally mixed reviews from critics. It currently has a 58% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10. The site's consensus reads: ""Jason's Lyric" is a sexually charged film whose violent streak weakens or, depending on your perspective, supports the melodrama."


title: Jason's Lyric

text: Roger Ebert gave the movie praise for its cast's performances, director Doug McHenry's "lyrical touches" to the poetic aesthetics of Bobby Smith, Jr.'s script and its willingness to tackle dramatic themes that "New Jack City" and "Sugar Hill" also explored, concluding that, "It's not some little plot-bound genre formula. It's invigorating, how much confidence it has, and how much space it allows itself." Deborah Young from "Variety" praised the performances of Whitaker, Payne and Woodbine, and the visual settings created by McHenry and cinematographer Francis Kenny but felt the film's script "stumbles into a lame love story and ends in a conventional shootout and bloodbath."


title: Jason's Lyric

text: Peter Rainer of the "Los Angeles Times" called the film "a terribly earnest melodrama with king-size ambitions", commending the filmmakers for their overall attempt at artistic cinema but found it "overextended and unbelievable both as love story and as urban tragedy." In response to his review, filmmaker Jamaa Fanaka gave high praise to the film's two main leads, its supporting cast, and the direction of McHenry. He also counteracted Rainer's opinion of the sex scenes being there to raise the film's box office, saying that its target demographic want to see romantic stories that feature two black leads in said scenes, and that the film offers them a sort of "cinematic sexual healing."


title: Jason's Lyric

text: "Entertainment Weekly"s Lisa Schwarzbaum gave it a C, writing that she found the brotherly storyline between Jason and Joshua more compelling than the main romantic plot, saying that the latter was "so dense with big themes strung together that character development suffers. And the emotional sum is less than the interconnection of its Tragedy 101 parts." In a review for "The New York Times", Caryn James criticized the filmmaking for being overly stylized with its poetic aspirations and making the plot twist "unintentionally confusing rather than deliberately holding back information" with its editing. She called "Jason's Lyric" "a muddled film that takes a standard urban action movie and adds a veneer of overwrought romance."


title: Naoko Mori

text: Naoko Mori was born on 29 November 1971 in Nagoya, Japan, to a Ryukyuan mother and a Japanese American father. When Mori was four years old, she moved to New Jersey due to her father's work. She returned to Japan when she was ten and moved to London two years later. When her parents were posted back to Japan, Mori was given the choice of either moving back to Japan with her parents or remaining in London on her own. She chose to stay in London, partly because she wanted to finish her GCSEs and gain some qualifications. She attended the Royal Russell School. Mori's father opened a bank account for her, handed her a cheque book and told her to find a flat or a bed sit for herself to live in. Mori said that being on her own at such a young age helped her to be a very independent person, although it was still a scary world to be faced so young.


title: Naoko Mori

text: While studying for her A-levels, she auditioned and joined London's West End production of the Vietnam War musical "Miss Saigon". She later went on to play Kim and became the first Japanese national to play a lead role in the West End. From 1993 to 1994, Mori had a regular role on the hospital drama "Casualty" as the hospital receptionist Mie Nishikawa. Film roles followed, including appearances in the 1997 musical comedy film "Spice World" and "Topsy-Turvy" (1999). Mori also appeared in the television programmes "Thief Takers" (1997), "Judge John Deed" (2001), "Spooks" (2002), "Mile High" (2003) and "Powers (2004)". In 1995, she had a small role as a Japanese computer hacker in the film "Hackers". Mori had a major role in the 2005 BBC docu-drama , which contained dramatic re-enactments of the 1945 atomic bombing. Mori also provided the voice acting for the villainess Mai Hem for the game "Perfect Dark Zero".


title: Naoko Mori

text: In 2005, Mori had a small role as Dr. Sato in the "Doctor Who" episode "Aliens of London". Producer Russell T Davies took note of her performance and decided to bring the character back as a regular in the first two series of the "Doctor Who" spin-off "Torchwood". Mori's "Torchwood" character, Toshiko Sato, was killed in "Exit Wounds", the final episode of "Torchwood"'s second series, but has not ruled out the possibility of returning to the show at a later date. Since her exit from the show, Mori has reprised the character in multiple Torchwood audio dramas by Big Finish Productions, some of them with her as a lead with a guest cast, but some with her as part of the team with the rest of the main Torchwood cast. She returned to the West End on 20 November 2006, when she took over the role of Christmas Eve from Ann Harada in the London production of "Avenue Q", a role which she played until 14 April 2007.


title: Naoko Mori

text: Mori portrayed Yoko Ono in the BBC Four production "Lennon Naked", which was broadcast in the UK on 23 Wednesday June 2010. The film reunited her with Christopher Eccleston, who played John Lennon, opposite whom she played Dr. Sato in her "Doctor Who" appearance. Before joining "Torchwood", Mori acted as Kim in "Miss Saigon" alongside future co-star John Barrowman as Chris.


title: Naoko Mori

text: Mori appeared in the movie "Everest" (2015), as Yasuko Namba, opposite Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Keira Knightley, and Sam Worthington. In 2018 Mori played Lady Thiang in "The King and I" in London.


title: Naoko Mori

text: Mori is a Japanese Buddhist. She has an elder brother whom she grew up with alongside her parents in New Jersey. At the young age of 16 or 17 she moved into a flat on her own in London. This was when her career expanded. She wanted to become a singer before she was an actress.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: "Eiríkr inn sigrsæli", Modern Swedish: "Erik Segersäll"; c. 945 – c. 995) was a Swedish monarch as of around 970. Although there were earlier Swedish kings, he is the first Swedish king in a consecutive regnal succession, who is attested in sources independent of each other, and consequently Sweden's list of rulers usually begins with him. His son Olof Skötkonung, however, is considered the first ruler documented to definitely have been accepted both by the original Swedes around Lake Mälaren and by the Geats around Lake Vättern. Adam of Bremen reports a king named Emund Eriksson before Eric, but it is not known whether he was Eric's father. The Norse sagas' accounts of a Björn Eriksson are considered unreliable.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Some sources have referred to Eric the Victorious as either King "Eric V" or "Eric VI", modern inventions by counting backwards from Eric XIV (1560–1568), who adopted his numeral according to a 16th-century work on the history of Sweden, "Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus". Whether or not there were any Swedish monarchs named Eric before Eric the Victorious is disputed, with some historians claiming that there were several earlier Erics, and others questioning the reliability of the primary sources used and the existence of these earlier monarchs. The list of monarchs after him is also complicated and sketchy in some early periods, which makes the assignment of any numeral problematic (see Eric and Eric and Erik Årsäll) whether counting backward or forward.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: His original territory was in Uppland and neighbouring provinces. He acquired the epithet of "Segersäll" – "Victorious" or literally "blessed with victory" – after defeating an invasion force from the south in the Battle of Fýrisvellir which took place near Uppsala. A brother of Eric's named Olof allegedly being the father of Styrbjörn the Strong, Eric's main opponent in that battle, is part of the traditions about them.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: The extent of Eric's kingdom is unknown. In addition to the Swedish heartland around lake Mälaren it may have extended down along the Baltic Sea as far south as Blekinge. According to Adam of Bremen, he was also King of Denmark after defeating King Sweyn Forkbeard.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: According to the Flateyjarbok, his success was largely due to an alliance with free farmers against an earl-class nobility, but archaeological findings suggest that the influence of that class diminished during the last part of the tenth century. Eric probably introduced a system of universal conscription known as ledung in the provinces around Mälaren.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: In all probability he also founded the town of Sigtuna, which still exists and where the first Swedish coins were minted for his son and successor King Olof.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Eric the Victorious is named in a number of sagas, Nordic tales of history preserved from oral tradition. In various stories, he is described as the son of a Björn Eriksson and as having ruled together with his brother Olaf. One saga describes his marriage to the infamous Queen Sigrid the Haughty, daughter of a legendary Viking, Skagul Toste, and how in their divorce he gave her all of Gothenland as a fief. According to "Eymund's saga" he then took a new queen, Aud, daughter of Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Before that, Eric's brother Olaf died, and a new co-ruler was to be appointed, but the Swedes allegedly refused to accept Eric's rowdy nephew Styrbjörn as such. Eric granted Styrbjörn 60 longships in which he sailed away for a seafaring existence as a Viking. He became the ruler of Jomsborg and an ally of Danish King Harold Bluetooth, whose daughter Tyra he married. Styrbjörn returned to Sweden with an army, although Harold and the Danish troops seem to have turned back. Eric won the Battle of Fýrisvellir, according to "Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa", after making sacrifice to Odin and promising that, if victorious, he would give himself to Odin in ten years.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Two skaldic verses by Thorvaldr Hjaltason describe the alleged battle. The first expressly mentions how an Eric has utterly defeated an enemy host at a fortification at Fýrisvellir, while the second specifies that the Vikings were superior in numbers but nevertheless were handily captured when they attacked Sweden, and only those who fled survived. The runestones of Hällestad and Sjörup in Scania, then a part of Denmark, do mention a battle at Uppsala characterized by the defeat and flight of the attackers. These stones have traditionally been associated with the battle, but they also present chronological problems and may be from the next century.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: German ecclesiastic chronicler Adam of Bremen (around 1075) provides by far the oldest narrative about King Eric, and it differs substantially from the sagas. As his source he refers to the current King Sweyn II of Denmark whom he interviewed for his chronicle. Adam places Eric's reign after that of a certain Emund Eriksson, without clarifying how they were related. He does not mention the Battle of Fýrisvellir but relates that Eric gathered a large army and invaded Denmark against King Sweyn Forkbeard. The direct reason for the attack is not given, but somehow it concerned an alliance between Eric and "the very powerful king of the Polans, Bolesław (992–1025). He gave Eric his sister or daughter in marriage". That princess has been identified as Gunhild of Wenden, in some Nordic sources the daughter of a king "Burislev" (Bolesław). According to other interpretations, she was identical with a woman known in later sagas as Sigrid the Haughty, whose name is possibly a misunderstanding of the Old Polish name Świętosława. Eric's invasion of Denmark was successful. Several battles were fought at sea, and there the Danish forces, attacked from the east by Slavs, were annihilated. After his victory, Eric kept Denmark for a time, while Sweyn was forced to flee, first to Norway, then to England, and finally to Scotland whose king received the refugee with kindness.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: According to Adam, Eric's rule in Denmark coincided with increased Viking activity in northern Germany. A fleet of Swedish and Danish ships sailed up the Elbe and landed at Stade in Saxony. A Saxon army confronted the invaders but was badly defeated. Several prominent Saxons were captured and brought to the ships, while the Vikings ravaged the province with no resistance. One of the prisoners, a Margrave Siegfried, managed to escape at night with the help of a fisherman. The infuriated Vikings then maimed their remaining prisoners and threw them ashore. However, Siegfried and Duke Benno soon raised a new army and raided the Vikings encamped at Stade. Another Viking detachment was tricked deep into the desolate marsh of Glindesmoor by a captured Saxon knight and annihilated by pursuing Germans.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Adam characterises Eric as a heathen and initially very hostile to the Christian religion. Nevertheless, a number of missionaries were at work during his reign, foreigners as well as some belonging to recently converted Nordic families. Among them was Odinkar the Elder who preached in Funen, Zealand, Scania and Sweden. Eventually Eric agreed to baptism, presumably while staying in Denmark; and if so he was the first Swedish king to do so. Due to that significant event, missionaries were allowed to sail over from Denmark to Sweden where they "worked valiantly in the name of the Lord". After some time, Eric is said to have forgotten the Christian faith and reverted to the religion of his ancestors. When Eric died, Sveyn Forkbeard returned from exile and regained Denmark. He also is alleged to have married Eric's widow (whoever she was), mother of Eric's successor King Olof. Thus an alliance between the Swedish and Danish royal houses was created.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Adam's account seems to date the death of Eric the Victorious between 992, when the accession took place in Poland of his ally Boleslaw I (above), and 995, when his son Olof's coinage began in Sigtuna. According to Snorre Sturlasson, Eric died in Uppsala. Discrepancies between Adam's account and other sources have led to a variety of interpretations among Swedish historians, especially about Eric's marriages. The details on his conquest of Denmark have been questioned, since they are not supported in other source material. According to a recent evaluation, however, "that is not unlikely, at least if we consider it a loose suzerainty over powerful Danish lords". At any rate, a comparison between Adam's records and Nordic sagas gives a lasting picture of Eric as a warlike and successful ruler.


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Various sources and sagas (see above) list King Eric's wives as Sigrid, Świętosława, Gunhild and Aud, of which two or three may have been the same person but depicted differently and under different names. Such sources have also given Eric a total of four known children:


title: Eric the Victorious

text: Eric's nephew Styrbjörn and niece Gyrid were allegedly children of his semi-legendary brother and co-ruler Olof, mentioned in connection with Styrbjörn.


title: 2022 Porsche Supercup

text: The 2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup was the 30th Porsche Supercup season. It began on 24 April at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy and ended on 11 September at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Italy, after eight races, all of which were support events for the 2022 Formula One season. It marked the first time that the series visited Circuit Paul Ricard.


title: 2022 Porsche Supercup

text: In order for full points to be awarded, the race winner must complete at least 50% of the scheduled race distance. Half points are awarded if the race winner completes less than 50% of the race distance. In the event of a tie at the conclusion of the championship, a count-back system is used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's/constructor's best result used to decide the standings.


title: 2022 Porsche Supercup

text: Guest drivers are ineligible to score points. If a guest driver finishes in first position, the second-placed finisher will receive 25 points. The same goes for every other points scoring position. So if three guest drivers end up placed fourth, fifth and sixth, the seventh-placed finisher will receive fourteen points and so forth - until the eighteenth-placed finisher receives the final point.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The presidential primary elections and caucuses held in the various states, the District of Columbia, and territories of the United States form part of the nominating process of candidates for United States presidential elections. The United States Constitution has never specified the process; political parties have developed their own procedures over time. Some states hold only primary elections, some hold only caucuses, and others use a combination of both. These primaries and caucuses are staggered, generally beginning sometime in January or February, and ending about mid-June before the general election in November. State and local governments run the primary elections, while caucuses are private events that are directly run by the political parties themselves. A state's primary election or caucus is usually an indirect election: instead of voters directly selecting a particular person running for president, they determine the number of delegates each party's national convention will receive from their respective state. These delegates then in turn select their party's presidential nominee. The first state in the United States to hold its presidential primary was North Dakota in 1912, following on Oregon's successful implementation of its system in 1910.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Each party determines how many delegates it allocates to each state. Along with those "pledged" delegates chosen during the primaries and caucuses, state delegations to both the Democratic and Republican conventions also include "unpledged" delegates who have a vote. For Republicans, they consist of the three top party officials who serve "At Large" from each state and territory. Democrats have a more expansive group of unpledged delegates called "superdelegates", who are party leaders and elected officials (PLEO). If no single candidate has secured an absolute majority of delegates (including both pledged and unpledged), then a "brokered convention" occurs: all pledged delegates are "released" after the first round of voting and are able to switch their allegiance to a different candidate, and then additional rounds take place until there is a winner with an absolute majority.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The staggered nature of the presidential primary season allows candidates to concentrate their resources in each area of the country one at a time instead of campaigning in every state simultaneously. In some of the less populous states, this allows campaigning to take place on a much more personal scale. However, the overall results of the primary season may not be representative of the U.S. electorate as a whole: voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and other less populous states which traditionally hold their primaries and caucuses in late-January/February usually have a major impact on the races, while voters in California and other large states which traditionally hold their primaries in June generally end up having no say because the races are usually over by then. As a result, more states vie for earlier primaries, known as "front-loading", to claim a greater influence in the process. The national parties have used penalties and awarded bonus delegates in efforts to stagger the system over broadly a 90-day window. Where state legislatures set the primary or caucus date, sometimes the out-party in that state has endured penalties in the number of delegates it can send to the national convention.


title: United States presidential primary

text: There is no provision for the role of political parties in the United States Constitution, since the Founding Fathers did not originally intend for American politics to be partisan. In Federalist Papers No. 9 and No. 10, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, respectively, wrote specifically about the dangers of domestic political factions. Thus in the first two presidential elections, the Electoral College handled the nominations and elections in 1789 and 1792 that selected George Washington. The beginnings of the American two-party system then emerged from Washington's immediate circle of advisors. Hamilton and Madison, who wrote the aforementioned Federalist Papers against political factions, ended up being the core leaders in this partisanship: Hamilton became the leader of Federalist Party while Madison co-helmed the Democratic-Republican Party with Thomas Jefferson.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Starting with the 1796 election, congressional party or a state legislature party caucus selected the party's presidential candidates. Before 1820, Democratic-Republican members of Congress would nominate a single candidate from their party. That system collapsed in 1824, and since 1832 the preferred mechanism for nomination has been a national convention.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The first national convention was called by the Anti-Masonic Party in 1831, as they could not use the caucus system because they had no congressmen. The party leaders instead called for a national meeting of supporters to set the party's candidate. This convention was held in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 26, 1831, which selected William Wirt as their presidential candidate.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Delegates to the national convention were usually selected at state conventions whose own delegates were chosen by district conventions. Sometimes they were dominated by intrigue between political bosses who controlled delegates; the national convention was far from democratic or transparent. Progressive Era reformers looked to the primary election as a way to measure popular opinion of candidates, as opposed to the opinion of the bosses. Florida enacted the first presidential primary in 1901. The Wisconsin direct open primary of 1905 was the first to eliminate the caucus and mandate direct selection of national convention delegates. In 1910, Oregon became the first state to establish a presidential preference primary, which requires delegates to the National Convention to support the winner of the primary at the convention. By 1912, twelve states either selected delegates in primaries, used a preferential primary, or both. By 1920 there were 20 states with primaries, but some went back, and from 1936 to 1968, 12 states used them.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The primary received its first major test in the 1912 election pitting incumbent president William Howard Taft against challengers Theodore Roosevelt and Robert La Follette. Roosevelt proved the most popular candidate, but as most primaries were non-binding "preference" shows and held in only fourteen of the-then forty-eight states, the Republican nomination went to Taft, who controlled the convention.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Seeking to boost voter turnout, New Hampshire simplified its ballot access laws in 1949. In the ensuing non-binding "beauty contest" of 1952, Republican Dwight Eisenhower demonstrated his broad voter appeal by out-polling the favored Robert A. Taft, "Mr. Republican." Also, Democrat Estes Kefauver defeated incumbent president Harry S. Truman, leading the latter to decide not to run for another term.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary has since become a widely observed test of candidates' viability.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The impetus for national adoption of the binding primary election was the chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention. Vice President Hubert Humphrey secured the presidential nomination despite not winning a single primary under his own name. After this, a Democratic National Committee-commissioned panel led by Senator George McGovern – the McGovern–Fraser Commission – recommended that states adopt new rules to assure wider participation. A large number of states, faced with the need to conform to more detailed rules for the selection of national delegates, chose a presidential primary as an easier way to come into compliance with the new national Democratic Party rules. The result was that many more future delegates would be selected by a state presidential primary. The Republicans also adopted many more state presidential primaries. By 1992, Democrats had primaries in 40 states and Republicans in 39.


title: United States presidential primary

text: With the broadened use of the primary system, states have tried to increase their influence in the nomination process. One tactic has been to create geographic blocs to encourage candidates to spend time in a region. Vermont and Massachusetts attempted to stage a joint New England primary on the first Tuesday of March, but New Hampshire refused to participate so it could retain its traditional place as the first primary. The first regional primary was the Southern Super Tuesday of March 8, 1988, in which nine states united in the idea that a candidate would reflect regional interests. It failed as all but two of the eight major candidates won at least one primary on that day.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Another trend is to stage earlier and earlier primaries, given impetus by Super Tuesday and the mid-1990s move (since repealed) of the California primary and its bloc of votes—the largest in the nation—from June to March. To retain its tradition as the first primary in the country (and adhere to a state law which requires it to be), New Hampshire moved their primary forward, from early March to early January.


title: United States presidential primary

text: A major reason states try to increase their influence, and vie for earlier primaries, is that in recent years the races have usually been decided before the primary season has ended in June. For example, John McCain officially clinched the 2008 Republican presidential nomination in March, while during that same month Barack Obama held a substantial lead in pledged delegates in the Democratic Party primaries. In 2012, Obama faced no major challenger in the Democratic Party primaries since he had the advantage of incumbency "(see below)", while Mitt Romney gained enough delegates to be declared the "presumptive" Republican nominee by late April.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In 2012, both the Republicans and the Democrats moved their Florida primary to January 31, which was an earlier date than past election cycles. In response, other states also changed their primary election dates for 2012, in order to claim a greater influence, creating a cascade of changes in other states. This followed what happened in 2008 when Nevada moved its caucuses to January, causing other states to also move their primaries to earlier dates. Senate majority leader and Nevada senator Harry Reid was a major proponent of moving that state's caucuses to January, arguing that Nevada would be the perfect American microcosm: its western location, significant minority population, and strong labor population would be more representative of the country as a whole than Iowa and New Hampshire.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Both parties then enacted stricter timing rules for 2016: primaries and caucuses cannot start until February 1; and only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada are entitled to February contests.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The primary and caucus system is the only method in which voters in Puerto Rico, Guam, and other U.S. territories can have a say in the presidential race. Under the U.S. Constitution, U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College, and thus voters residing in those areas are basically ineligible to vote in the general election. On the other hand, as stated above, the primaries and caucuses are non-governmental party affairs. Both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as other third parties, have agreed to let these territories participate in the presidential nomination process. In the two major party's rules, "territories" are referred to as "states", which can be carried over in discussion and media implying there are more than 50 states.


title: United States presidential primary

text: An incumbent president seeking re-election usually faces no opposition during their respective party's primaries, especially if they are still popular. For presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, for example, their respective paths to nomination became uneventful and the races become merely "pro forma". With the lack of serious competition, the incumbent president's party may also cancel several state primaries/caucuses to both save money and to show undivided support for the incumbent's candidacy.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Serious challenges are rare, but then generally presage failure to win the general election in the fall. During the 1976 Republican Party primaries, then-former California governor Reagan carried 23 states while running against incumbent president Gerald Ford; Ford then went on to lose the presidential election to Jimmy Carter. Senator Ted Kennedy then carried 12 states while running against Carter during the 1980 Democratic Party primaries; Reagan then defeated Carter in the fall. Pat Buchanan captured a decent percentage of a protest vote against George H.W. Bush during the 1992 Republican primaries, but only received a handful of delegates; Bush too subsequently went on to lose in the general election to Clinton.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Both major political parties of the U.S.—the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—officially nominate their candidate for president at their respective national conventions. Each of these conventions is attended by a number of delegates selected in accordance with the given party's bylaws. The results of the presidential primaries and caucuses bind many of these delegates, known as pledged delegates, to vote for a particular candidate.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Both parties also have a group of unpledged delegates. Republicans have three "At-Large" delegates selected at the state convention from all the states and territories, 168 in number. These are each states' two national committeepersons and the state chairperson.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In Democratic primaries through 2016, about 85% of delegates to the Democratic National Convention are "pledged delegates" who are apportioned to candidates according to the results of primaries and caucuses. The remaining 15% are unpledged superdelegates (consisting of sitting Democratic governors, sitting Democratic members of Congress (i.e., senators and representatives), former and current Democratic presidents and vice presidents, and a few leaders of Democratic National Committee-affiliated organizations, such as the Young Democrats of America) who can vote for whomever they wish. Some superdelegates are former or current state or federal lobbyists. In 2016, following a push by independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran as a Democrat, the party voted in favor of superdelegate reform, such that in future presidential elections most superdelegates will be bound to their state primary results.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Franchise in a primary or caucus is governed by rules established by the state party, although the states may impose other regulations.


title: United States presidential primary

text: While most states hold primary elections, a handful of states hold caucuses. Instead of going to a polling place, voters attend local private events run by the political parties, and cast their selections there. One disadvantage of caucuses is that the state party runs the process directly instead of having the state and local governments run them. Another is that most election laws do not normally apply to caucuses.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Nearly all states have a "binding" primary or caucus, in which the results of the election depending on state law or party rules legally "bind" some or all of the delegates to vote for a particular candidate at the national convention, for a certain number of ballots or until the candidate releases the delegates. Some binding primaries are "winner-take-all" contests, in which all of a state's delegates are required to vote for the same candidate. In a "proportional vote", a state's delegation is allocated in proportion to the candidates' percent of the popular vote in a congressional district. In many of those states that have proportional vote primaries, a candidate must meet a certain threshold in the popular vote to be given delegates.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Some states may use a binding "walking subcaucus" system, where voters may instead be choosing pledged delegates to a local, county or state party convention, which then in turn selects pledged delegates to the national convention. A handful of states may also practice "non-binding" "beauty contests", which are public opinion surveys for use by caucus delegates to select candidates to a state convention, which then in turn selects delegates to the national convention.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In many states, only voters registered with a party may vote in that party's primary, known as a closed primary. In some states, a semi-closed primary is practiced, in which voters unaffiliated with a party (independents) may choose a party primary in which to vote. In an open primary, any voter may vote in any party's primary. A semi-open primary occurs when a voter must choose a party-specific ballot to cast, instead of being provided a single ballot where the voter must choose on the ballot itself which party's primary to vote in. In all of these systems, a voter may participate in only one primary; that is, a voter who casts a vote for a candidate standing for the Republican nomination for president cannot cast a vote for a candidate standing for the Democratic nomination, or vice versa. A few states once staged a blanket primary, in which voters could vote for one candidate in multiple primaries, but the practice was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2000 case of "California Democratic Party v. Jones" as violating the freedom of assembly guaranteed by the First Amendment.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party usually modify their delegate selection rules between presidential elections, including how delegates are allocated to each state and territory.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Under the current Democratic Party selection rules, adopted in 2006, pledged delegates are selected under proportional representation, which requires a candidate have a minimum of 15% of a state's popular vote to receive delegates. In addition, the Democratic Party may reject any candidate under their bylaws. Each state publishes a Delegate Selection Plan that notes the mechanics of calculating the number of delegates per congressional district, and how votes are transferred from local conventions to the state and national convention. Since the 2012 Democratic primaries, the number of pledged delegates allocated to each of the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., is based on two main factors: (1) the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the last three presidential elections, and (2) the number of electoral votes each state has in the United States Electoral College. The U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands are instead assigned a fixed number of pledged delegates. States and territories who schedule their primary or caucus later in the primary season may also get additional bonus delegates.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The Republican Party's rules since 2008 leave more discretion to the states in choosing a method of allocating pledged delegates. As a result, states variously applied the statewide winner-take-all method (e.g., New York), district- and state-level winner-take-all (e.g., California), or proportional allocation (e.g., Massachusetts). Changes in the rules before 2012 brought proportional representation to more states. The number of Republican pledged delegates allocated to each of the 50 U.S. states is 10 at-large delegates, plus three district delegates for each congressional district. Washington, D.C., and the five U.S. Territories are instead assigned a fixed number of pledged delegates. States and territories get bonus delegates based on whether it (if applicable) has a Republican governor, it has GOP majorities in one or all chambers of its state legislature, whether one or both of its U.S. senators are Republican, it has a GOP majority in its delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, and whether its electoral college votes went to the Republican candidate in the last presidential election.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Each party's bylaws also specify which current and former elected officeholders and party leaders qualify as unpledged delegates. Because of possible deaths, resignations, or the results of intervening or special elections, the final number of these superdelegates may not be known until the week of the convention.


title: United States presidential primary

text: During the convention, there is generally a roll call of the votes. Each delegation announces its vote tallies, usually accompanied with some boosterism of their state or territory. The delegation may pass, nominally to retally their delegates' preferences, but often to allow a different delegation to give the leading candidate the honor of casting the majority-making vote.


title: United States presidential primary

text: If no single candidate has secured a majority of delegates (including both pledged and unpledged) during the first vote, then a "brokered convention" results. All pledged delegates are then "released" and are able to switch their allegiance to a different candidate. Thereafter, the nomination is decided through a process of alternating political horse trading, and additional rounds of re-votes.


title: United States presidential primary

text: A customary ceremonial practice has been for the losing candidate(s) in the primary season to "release" their delegates at the convention and exhort them to vote for the winning nominee as a sign of party unity. Thus, the vote tallied on the convention floor is unanimous or nearly so. For example, during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton (who only captured about 22% of delegates compared to Barack Obama's approximate 72%) moved to nominate Obama by acclamation, making it a unanimous vote.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Campaigning for president often begins almost a year before the New Hampshire primary, almost two years before the presidential election. This is largely because federal campaign finance laws including the Federal Election Campaign Act state that a candidate who intends to receive contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or make expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000, among others, must first file a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. Thus, presidential candidates officially announce their intentions to run that early so they can start raising or spending the money needed to mount their nationwide campaigns.


title: United States presidential primary

text: During the first six months of the year, primaries and caucuses are separately held in each of the 50 states; the District of Columbia, and each of the five permanently inhabited US territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands Each party sets its own calendar and rules, and in some cases actually administers the election. However, to reduce expenses and encourage turnout, the major parties' primaries are usually held the same day and may be consolidated with other state elections. The primary election itself is administered by local governments according to state law. In some cases, state law determines how delegates will be awarded and who may participate in the primary; where it does not, party rules prevail.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Since the 1970s, states have held increasingly early primaries to maximize their leverage (see "Front-loading and compression" below). In reaction to these moves, both the Democratic and Republican National Committees imposed a timing tier system of scheduling rules, stripping states of delegates if they move their primaries early, such as the case in both the Florida Democratic primary and the Florida Republican primary in 2008.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The first binding event, in which a candidate can secure convention delegates, is traditionally the Iowa caucus, usually held in late January or early February of the presidential election year. It is generally followed by the New Hampshire primary, the first primary by tradition since 1920 and by New Hampshire state law. New Hampshire law states the primary shall be held "on the Tuesday at least seven days immediately preceding the date on which any other state shall hold a similar election." The Iowa caucuses are not considered to be "a similar election" under New Hampshire's law because the former uses caucuses instead of primary elections. Should any other state move its primary too close to New Hampshire's, or before, the New Hampshire secretary of state is required to reschedule the primary accordingly.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In recent elections, the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary have garnered over half the media attention paid to the entire selection process. After Iowa and New Hampshire, the front runners then attempt to solidify their status, while the others fight to become #2.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Because these states are small, campaigning takes place on a much more personal scale. As a result, even a little-known, underfunded candidate can use "retail politics" to meet intimately with interested voters and perform better than expected. The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary have produced a number of headline-making upsets in history:


title: United States presidential primary

text: In 2008 Nevada was given the official "First in the West" status reflecting the growing importance of the West as well as Nevada's electoral bellwether status. America's increasing ethnic diversity, urbanization, and geographic redistribution made influential political leaders come to the realization that Iowa and New Hampshire were not representative of the rest of the country. Following the 2004 election, then-Senate majority leader Harry Reid began making a case for Nevada as the perfect American microcosm. Since 2012, the Nevada caucuses have been the third race in the process after Iowa and New Hampshire.


title: United States presidential primary

text: South Carolina is generally the "First in the South" primary. For the Republicans, it is considered a "firewall" to protect establishment favorites and frontrunners in the presidential nomination race, being designed to stop the momentum of insurgent candidates who could have received a boost from strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. From its inception in 1980 through the election of 2008, the winner of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the nomination. In the 2012 Republican primaries, Newt Gingrich initially finished poorly in the early states, but then scored an upset victory in South Carolina over frontrunner Mitt Romney. However, after suffering a decisive defeat to Romney in Florida, Gingrich's campaign was relegated back to third place, leaving Rick Santorum as the main challenger to Romney for the rest of the primaries.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In 2020, a decisive win in the South Carolina primary helped former United States Vice President Joe Biden win the Democratic Party U.S. Presidential primary by eliminating several rivals and triggering strong wins across the country on Super Tuesday. Biden had previously struggled in Iowa and New Hampshire.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The Tuesday in February or March when the greatest number of states hold primary elections and caucuses is known as "Super Tuesday". Because it is held in various states from geographically and socially diverse regions of the country, it typically represents a presidential candidate's first test of national electability. More delegates can be won on Super Tuesday than on any other single day of the primary calendar, thus convincing wins during this day have usually propelled candidates to their party's nomination.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Because they are the states that traditionally hold their respective contests first, the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary usually attract the most media attention; however, critics, such as Mississippi secretary of state Eric Clark and Tennessee senator William Brock, point out that these states are not representative of the United States as a whole: they are overwhelmingly white, more rural, and wealthier than the national average, and neither is in the fast-growing West or South.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Conversely, states that traditionally hold their primaries in June, like California (the most populous state overall) and New Jersey (the most densely populated state), usually end up having no say in who the presidential candidate will be. As stated above, the races were usually over well before June. California and New Jersey moved their primaries to February for the 2008 election, but in 2012 both states ended up moving them back to June. California lawmakers stated that consolidating their presidential and statewide primary election in June saves them about $100 million, and that it is not worth the cost when there is generally no competitive balance between the two political parties within California.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In 2005, the primary commission of the Democratic National Committee began considering removing Iowa and New Hampshire from the top of the calendar, but this proposal never gained approval, so those two states remain as the first two contests. New Hampshire also fought back by obliging candidates who wanted to campaign in the state to pledge to uphold that primary as the first one.


title: United States presidential primary

text: States vie for earlier primaries to claim greater influence in the nomination process, as the early primaries can act as a signal to the nation, showing which candidates are popular and giving those who perform well early on the advantage of the bandwagon effect. Also, candidates can ignore primaries that fall after the nomination has already been secured, and would owe less to those states politically. As a result, rather than stretching from March to July, most primaries take place in a compressed time frame in February and March. National party leaders also have an interest in compressing the primary calendar, as it enables the party to reduce the chance of a bruising internecine battle and to preserve resources for the general campaign.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In such a primary season, however, many primaries will fall on the same day, forcing candidates to choose where to spend their time and resources. Indeed, Super Tuesday was created deliberately to increase the influence of the South. When states cannot agree to coordinate primaries, however, attention flows to larger states with large numbers of delegates at the expense of smaller ones. Because the candidate's time is limited, paid advertising may play a greater role. Moreover, a compressed calendar limits the ability of lesser-known candidates to corral resources and raise their visibility among voters, especially when a better-known candidate enjoys the financial and institutional backing of the party establishment.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In an article from "Detroit News", Tennessee Senator William (Bill) Brock said about front-loading, "Today, too many people in too many states have no voice in the election of our major party nominees. For them, the nominations are over before they have begun."


title: United States presidential primary

text: The term "superdelegate" itself was used originally as a criticism of unpledged delegates. Superdelegates are only used by the Democratic Party. Political commentator Susan Estrich argued in 1981 that these delegates, who at the time were predominantly white and male, had more power than other delegates because of their greater freedom to vote as they wish. The Democratic Party in particular has faced accusations that it conducts its nominating process in an undemocratic way, because superdelegates are generally chosen without regard to their preferences in the presidential race and are not obligated to support the candidate chosen by the voters.


title: United States presidential primary

text: There are several proposals for reforming the primary system. Some have called for a single nationwide primary to be held on one day. Others point out that requiring candidates to campaign in every state simultaneously would exacerbate the purported problem of campaigns being dominated by the candidates who raise the most money. The following proposals attempt to return the primary system to a more relaxed schedule, and would help less-funded candidates by lowering the cost of entry.


title: United States presidential primary

text: One reform concept is the graduated random presidential primary system, variations of which have been referred to as the American Plan or the California Plan. This plan starts with small primaries, and gradually moves up to larger ones, in 10 steps, with states chosen at random. The idea is that fewer initial primaries, typically in smaller states, would allow grassroots campaigns to score early successes and pick up steam. However, since states are chosen at random, travel costs may still be significant.


title: United States presidential primary

text: A commission empaneled by the Republican National Committee recommended the Delaware Plan in 2000. This plan had states grouped by size into four groups, with the smallest primaries first, then the next-smallest, and so on. Populous states objected to the plan, however, because it would have always scheduled their primaries at the end of the season. Other criticisms included the wide geographic range of the states, necessitating high travel costs. The Delaware Plan was put to vote at Republican National Convention of 2000 and rejected.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The National Association of Secretaries of State has endorsed a rotating regional primary system, with the country split into four regions: the West, the Midwest, the South, and the Northeast. Unlike the Delaware Plan and the American Plan, the Rotating Regional Primary System would lower campaigning costs by restricting groups of primaries to single, contiguous regions.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Author and political scientist Larry J. Sabato is also a proponent of this plan, but his proposal would have the order of regional primaries determined by lottery on January 1 of each presidential election year instead of on a rotating basis. In addition, his plan would allow for a few small population states, such as Iowa and New Hampshire, to hold their primaries in advance of the first region.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Criticisms of the regional plan include the higher entry costs than the other plans (since 1/4 of the country would vote in the first regional), and the political bias of certain regions (the South or the Northeast) unduly influencing the selection of a nominee.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In the interregional primary plan, the country is divided into geographical regions. On each primary date from March to June, one state from each of six regions votes. Each election date would contain a wide variety of perspectives. The order of the states in each region is set by a lottery. In a 24-year cycle, every state would have a chance to be among the first primary states. The primary criticism of this plan is that travel costs would be quite high: in each round, candidates would essentially have to cover the entire country to campaign effectively. Contrary to most reform plans, this would reduce the ability of lesser-funded candidates to build up from small contests to large ones.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In the 2008 Republican primary, states that ran early primaries were punished by a reduction of 50% in the number of delegates they could send to the national convention. Extension of this idea would set timing tiers, under which states that ran earlier primaries would send proportionally fewer delegates to the national convention, and states that waited would get a higher proportional number of delegates to the convention. For example, the party allowed primaries before March 1 to send 40% of delegates; those during March could send 60%; those during April could send 80%; those during May could send 100%; and those during June could send 120%.


title: United States presidential primary

text: The effect of such a plan would be clumping of primaries at the beginning of each month. It would still allow states to determine the timing of their own primaries, while giving them some incentive to hold primaries later. The disadvantage of the timing adjustment method is that it does not reduce travel time as the regional plans do, although it does permit regional groups of states to voluntarily clump together in a single superprimary as they have done in the past.


title: United States presidential primary

text: In practice, however, this timing tier system did not prevent states from moving their primaries in 2008 and 2012. For example, during the 2012 Republican primary, Florida and several other states still moved their primaries to earlier dates despite being penalized delegates.


title: United States presidential primary

text: Both parties then enacted more severe penalties in 2016 for violating their timing rules. For Republicans, states with more than 30 delegates that violate the timing rules will be deprived of all their delegates but nine; states with less than 30 will be reduced to six. For Democrats, states violating these rules will be penalized half of their pledged delegates and all of their unpledged delegates.