Balancing of Tickets Law and Legal Definition
When a candidate has won his or her party's presidential nomination, he or she is then obliged to pick a "running-mate", who,if the pair win the election will become vice-president. The two candidates are then often referred to as "the ticket".
Presidential candidates are often advised to pick a running-mate who "balances the ticket" i.e., one whose qualities make up for the candidate's perceived weaknesses.
There are several means by which the ticket may be balanced. Someone who is from a different region than the candidate may be chosen as a running mate to provide geographic balance to the ticket. If the candidate is associated with a specific faction of the party, a running mate from a competing faction may be chosen so as to unify the party. Similarly, running mates may be chosen to provide ideological, age, or demographic balance.
