The Democratic Party presidential primaries and caucuses are indirect elections in which voters elect delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention ; these delegates in turn directly elect the Democratic Party 's presidential nominee . In some states , the party may disregard voters ' selection of delegates or selected delegates may vote for any candidate at the state or national convention ( '' non-binding '' primary or caucus ) . In other states , state laws and party rules require the party to select delegates according to votes , and delegates must vote for a particular candidate ( '' binding '' primary or caucus ) . There are 4,051 pledged delegates and 714 superdelegates in the 2016 cycle . Under the party 's delegate selection rules , the number of pledged delegates allocated to each of the 50 U.S. states and Washington , D.C. is determined using a formula based on three main factors : A candidate must win 2,383 delegates at the national convention , in order to win the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination . For the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico , American Samoa , Guam , the U.S. Virgin Islands and for Democrats Abroad , fixed numbers of pledged delegates are allocated . All states and territories then must have used a proportional representation system , where their pledged delegates were awarded proportionally to the election results . A candidate must receive at least 15 % of the popular vote to win pledged delegates in a state . The current 714 unpledged superdelegates ( or " soft " delegates ) will include members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate , state and territorial governors , members of the Democratic National Committee , and other party leaders . Because of possible deaths , resignations , or the results of intervening or special elections , the final number of these superdelegates may be reduced before the convention . The Democratic National Committee also imposed rules for states that wished to hold early contests in 2016 . No state was be permitted to hold a primary or caucus in January and only Iowa , New Hampshire , South Carolina and Nevada were entitled to February contests . Any state that violated these rules were penalized half its pledged delegates and all its superdelegates to the 2016 convention
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic National Convention
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries