Superdelegates may cast votes to break the tie in the Democratic Party’s primary nomination.

Superdelegates are elected officials from the Democratic Party and include other party elites such as senators, representatives and officials at the state and local level, said Matthew Streb, assistant professor of political science.

Streb also added they receive a vote at the national convention to determine the party’s presidential candidate.

Mikel Wyckoff, associate professor of political science, said the job of the superdelegate is to ensure that the Democrats’ nominee is not too far from the mainstream as well as make sure the nominee is in the election.

“Normally, superdelegates play a minimal role in the nomination because the primaries and caucuses lead to a clear consensus on who the party’s nominee will be,” Streb said.

In this presidential election, the primaries are about to end, Wyckoff said. He added that candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton hope to have the majority of the delegates before the National Democratic Convention.

Streb said this year superdelegates will determine the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, since the delegate count between Obama and Clinton from the primaries and caucuses is so close.

The national convention is hosted every year in a different city toward the end of the summer, Wyckoff said.

General presidential election campaigns begin after the convention.

“Then the campaign will kick off,” Wyckoff said. “You then will know the Democrat and the Republican’s name.”