For many of the electoral politics experts here, this is probably a simple question, but it has me puzzled. My wife and I voted today in the Maryland Democratic primary. We voted for Sanders. The ballot gave us options to vote for up to four female delegates and up to four male delegates. The prospective delegates’s names showed pledges, e.g., John Doe (Sanders).
What exactly is up with that? Why would a Sanders supporter not vote for all eight possible Sanders delegates? Are those delegates pledged to vote for Sanders at the first convention vote? Does Sanders get a percentage of Maryland delegates based on his percentage of the vote, notwithstanding the votes for individual delegates? Etc.
Incidentally, after years of Diebold voting machines, Maryland has returned to paper ballots! You mark in ovals on a big paper ballot, like taking an SAT test. The ballot is then scanned by a machine that reads both sides at the same time. So there is a paper record in addition to the electronic totals. I heard somebody on the radio today say this would probably slow down the release of election results, but I suspect the opposite is true.
Thanks for any insights.
