BEFORE YOU TAKE NOTES On your CANDIDATE FOLDER, you will do a bit of research on your candidate along their “Road to the White House” You will use the second third of the inside left of the folder (refer to the white dry erase board for a visual) for this information

BEFORE YOU TAKE NOTES The first thing you need to find is when your candidate first announced their desire to be POTUS. Click here to find out when they announced running (skip the “survey” if it asks you anything crazy) Click here to find out when they announced running Write this info on your folder: “Recruitment – CANDIDATE NAME announced their running on DATE”

BEFORE YOU TAKE NOTES The second thing you need to do is find the results of the Iowa Caucus (the first Caucus which is a huge predictor of the rest of the voting) and the results of the Virginia Primary (our state, so I thought this was important) Click here to find out Caucus and Primary results Click on “Iowa Results” to find out the info you need Write this info on your folder: Iowa Caucus results: VOTE: # PERCENT: % DID THEY WIN THEIR STATE: yes/no Compare to the top person of the opposite party – using your knowledge of how the electoral college works, what can you ASSUME about Iowa and how the Electoral College will vote after the general election Hit the back button Scroll down to “Virginia Results” (near the bottom) to find out the info you need Virginia Caucus results: VOTE: # PERCENT: % DID THEY WIN THEIR STATE: yes/no Compare to the top person of the opposite party – using your knowledge of how the electoral college works, what can you ASSUME about VA and how the Electoral College will vote after the general election

BEFORE YOU TAKE NOTES The last thing you need to do is write a hypothesis statement. Answer the following: based on the Iowa Caucus and VA Primary results, how does the rest of the road to the White House look for your candidate and why?

Voter Requirements & Trends notes on your big mama notes sheet

Qualifications to register to vote in VA Registering to vote means I sign-up and can now vote in any/all elections (federal and state as well as local – this is the next unit). But how do I register? Because of the idea of FEDERALISM, one of the reserved powers is how each state will handle elections. So, the process, to a point, varies from state to state. The following is how you and I would sign-up to vote here in VA: 1.Citizen of the US 2.Resident of VA (and the city/county you want to vote) 3.18 years old by Election Day *Only citizens who register can vote in primaries and general elections

How to register to vote in Virginia So now that I am eligible, what do I actually have to do? 1.In person at the registrar’s office (at the courthouse), the DMV (department of motor vehicles) or other designated sites (the public library is one I know of – your HS government teacher might have forms for you to register to vote as well!) 2.By mail-in application 3.Online *Deadline is closed 22 days before election

Factors to predict who will vote So, there are Sociologists who study voter trends and behavior. Sadly, not everyone in the US votes. This could be for MANY reasons. But the following are the top predictor’s that will effect if someone votes or not 1.Education – more education = more vote Typically speaking, the more formally educated someone is (college, 2- year degree, 4-year degree, post-graduate work) the more likely they are to vote 2.Age – more age = more vote Typically speaking, the older someone is, the more likely they are to vote. Young adults (18-25) usually are the lowest voting bracket. 3.Income – more money = more vote Typically speaking, the more income a person/family has, the more likely they are to vote

Reasons why citizens fail to vote The predictors were on the previous slide – but sometimes, education, age and income aside – what are the main barriers to someone actually getting up and vote in spite of this? 1.Lack of interest Many people are just disengaged from voting – this can be for MANY reasons – what reasons can YOU think of on why a person is not interested in voting? 2.Failure to register And, they there are those that just do not register to vote – why would someone choose to do this? * Percentage of voters in POTUS elections is MORE that percentage who vote in state/local elections Why do you think this is? * Does every vote matter?

When you are done Look at the two slides again – FACTORS IN PREDICTING WHO WILL VOTE and REASONS WHY CITIZENS FAIL TO VOTE. Choose ONE of the factors/reasons that bothers you the most, or that you think you can do something about to fix it. ON YOUR OWN: Propose an amendment that would change the voter trends and encourage more people to vote. Your amendment can be positive (making voting more accessible, appealing, etc.) or can be negative (imposing fines, punishments, etc.). Write a short speech OR poster that: 1.Defines the factor/reason you are using 2.Why it’s a problem 3.Your solution 4.Why you think it will work That’s it