VOA常速英语:America Votes - Political Primaries

This month Americans will complete an important part of the process of selecting the candidates for which they will vote in November for the office of President of the United States.
今年11月，美国将选出下任总统，本月将完成大选过程中重要的一步——选出总统候选人。

The two major political parties in America – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will hold the last of the statewide political primary elections or caucuses in which voters in those states choose delegates to the national conventions of those parties. The delegates in turn, will choose their party’s candidate for President.
美国的两大政党——民主党和共和党将举行最后一次全州范围内的初选或预选，各州选民选派代表参加本政党的全国代表大会，并在全国代表大会上选出该党的总统候选人。

The framers of the Constitution of the United States disliked and distrusted political parties.In a famous treatise on government James Madison, one of the framers of the Constitution and later President of the United States, warned that “the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties.”The Constitution makes no mention of parties but instead provides for the President to be chosen by electors from each state, constituting what is called the Electoral College.
美国宪法的制定者不喜欢也不信任政党。詹姆斯·麦迪逊是美国宪法的制定者之一，后来当选美国总统。他在一篇关于政府的著名论文中警告：“竞争党之间的冲突忽视了公众利益。”根据美国宪法，选出总统的不是政党，而是各州选举人组成的总统选举团。

In the first two presidential elections, George Washington was nominated and elected by the Electoral College. But by 1796, political parties had emerged and party caucuses within the U.S. Congress and the state legislatures selected the candidates for which Electoral College would vote.
在最初的两次总统选举中，总统选举团提名并选举乔治·华盛顿为总统。但是到1796年，随着政党的出现，美国国会的党内预选和州立法机构选出候选人，供总统选举团投票。

The party caucus system gave way in 1832 to the national party convention,usually made up delegates selected by the party conventions in the various states. The party convention system was dominated by party leaders and political bosses– a process lacking in transparency and often taking little account of the wishes of the voters.
1832年，全国代表大会取代党内预选制度。通常来说，全国代表大会由各州代表大会选出的代表参加。政党代表大会体系由政党领袖和政治首领所控制，缺乏透明度，一般很少考虑投票者的意愿。

In 1901 Florida became the first state to hold a presidential primary to select delegates to a national convention. In the decades that followed more and more states moved toward a primary election system which diminished the role of party leaders and empowered to voters to choose the candidates. By 1992, Democrats had primaries in 40 states and Republicans in 39.
901年，佛罗里达州成为第一个通过初选选出代表参加全国代表大会的州。在之后的几十年里，越来越多的州开始举行初选，削弱了政党领袖的权力，将候选人的选举权授予投票者。截至1992年，民主党共在40个州举行初选，共和党在39个州举行初选。

Today, primaries are conducted by State and local governments. Caucuses are conducted by party officials.Some states have primaries, others have caucuses or a combination of both.
现在，初选由州和地方政府举行，预选由政党官员举行。有些州举行初选，有些州举行预选，也有的州既举行初选又举行预选。

The primary system, like democracy itself, has its flaws and is faced with many challenges. But in the U.S., it is, in the main, ordinary voters, not party leaders or government officials, who choose the candidates for America’s highest office.
正如民主本身，初选体系也有自身的缺陷，也面临着很多的挑战。但是在美国，选出美国最高职位候选人的不是政党领袖，也不是政府官员，而主要是普通的选民。