001. Does my vote count?
Yes. It does not always seem like it, but your vote does matter.
The biggest argument I get against this is the 2000 Presidential Election. Gore vs Bush. Gore won the popular vote by roughly 500,000 votes. Bush won the electoral votes. It came down to Florida's electoral votes (25). Recounts were held and the case Gore v. Bush went from the Florida Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that the recounts had been fair and Bush won the state by 537 votes, giving him the 25 electoral votes. Bush won with 271 electoral votes.
48 of 50 states require electoral votes to go to the winner of a state. Therefore, your vote is very important for the Presidential candidates.
003. What's the deal with primaries?
Primaries are a way the citizenry choose their party's political candidate.
CAUCUS: Organized by the political party. A meeting of party members to vote for and select candidates.
PRIMARY: Organized by the state. A vote held for citizens to choose their party's candidate.
DELEGATE: A person who represents the views of a group of voters. They are pledged delegates who are bound to a candidate based on the results of primaries and caucuses.
SUPER DELEGATE: They are unpledged