Essential Vocabulary: In your Interactive Notebook: Unit 3/4 - Lessons 7 & 8 Elections, & Voting Procedures LESSON ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How does North Carolina handle its voting system? What is “straight ticket voting” & why are some elections non-partisan? Warm Up: On paper: Try to fill out the sample ballot I gave you as you entered. If you don’t know what to do, use a pencil. Then answer these in classroom: Do you know who you would vote for for each office? Do you know what each office deals with? Do you know what these bonds are about? How might you feel if you tried to vote, and didn’t know what to put for some of these contests? Essential Vocabulary: Candidate Bond Issues Ballot Voter registration Partisan vs. Nonpartisan Elections Eligibility process Voting Precinct State judge elections Voter turnout Voter apathy Single member vs. at large districts Early voting Absentee ballot Open seats Straight ticket voting “Safe” Seats Split-ticket voting Referendum Today’s Plan: How to vote (and make it count!) Down-ballot races REGISTERING TO VOTE! You 16 yet?   

Unit 3/4: Constitution & American Politics Lesson 7: Elections, & Voting Procedures Class Website: www.mrggcivivcs.weebly.com DEADLINES & HOMEWORK: Lessons 7 & 8: Nov 7 & 9 Lesson 9: Thursday, Nov 10 Vocab Quiz, covers lessons 7-9 (End of class Quiz) Lesson 10: Monday, Nov 14 Performance Task Deadlines: Lesson 11: Tues, Nov 15 Updated Mid-Unit Quest (emphasizes politics: Nov 16) Lesson 12: The Supreme Court Lesson 13: The First Amendment Lesson 14: Right to Privacy (Amendments 2 & 9) Lesson 15: Due Process Lesson 16: Other Amendments Unit Test: Nov 23? 28? Lesson 7 Performance Task: Please answer our essential question using at least five key vocabulary terms. How does North Carolina handle its voting system? What is “straight ticket voting” & why are some elections non-partisan?

HOW DO I VOTE? VOTER REGISTRATION: WAYS TO VOTE: ON ELECTION DAY Register 30 days before election A U.S. Citizen & 18+ y/o Resident of the state for at least 30 days before the election Not currently serving a felony sentence Mentally competent Must update voter registration if you change addresses WAYS TO VOTE: Early Voting Vote at central locations in the two weeks before an election Allows people more flexibility ON ELECTION DAY Must vote at your precinct local voting place Polls open: 6:30am-7:30pm Absentee Ballots request by mail if you will be out of town for the election

How to Vote: Look at your ballot as we go over these… Top of the Ticket Major races that most voters are focused on: U.S. President Governor of your state U.S. Senator Down-ballot Races Other races that many voters haven’t paid much attention to: State House / Senate County Commission State Judge Council of State Soil & Water commissioner Straight Ticket Voting Casting ballot for ALL of the candidates from YOUR political party Vote for every Democrat / Republican Split Ticket voting Casting ballot for SOME Democrats and SOME Republicans, depending on the candidate & race

How to Vote: Look at your ballot as we go over these… Partisan elections Most offices allow candidates to run AS the NOMINEE of their political party. Party affiliation appears on the ballot next to candidate name Non-partisan elections Some races don’t allow you to run as a member of a party, only as an individual Party affiliation DOES NOT appear on ballot Find examples on ballot: NC Supreme Court (IMPORTANT!) District Court Judge Soil & Water Supervisor Straight Ticket Voting? Doesn’t work in non-partisan races!!!!

Partisan v. Nonpartisan Elections Ballot shows what political party each candidate represents Parties decide what candidate it wants on the ballot Independent candidates can gather signatures No mention of political party Candidates gather signatures to get on the ballot EXAMPLES: Judges School Board Fewer voters participate in non-partisan elections because: They haven’t researched the candidates Don’t have party labels to rely on (can’t just pick whatever D or R is there) They may think these elections are less important

REFERENDA – WHAT ARE THOSE? Let the People be Heard REFERENDUMs allow citizens to vote directly for/against a proposed law Bypasses the legislature and governor; In North Carolina, referenda must be placed on the ballot BY the County or State government Some states allow citizens to gather petitions to put something on the ballot directly, without support of the legislature. North Carolina DOES NOT ALLOW citizen-led ballot referendums

Referenda Examples On Durham’s Ballot tomorrow National Examples tomorrow Bond Requests allow the County to borrow or otherwise raise money for public projects such as: Schools Libraries Museums Public buildings Legalizing Marijuana Recreationally: CA, NV, AZ, MA, ME For medical use: 4-5 others Minimum Wage Increases: Colorado, Arizona, Maine; Washington, South Dakota Gun Control Laws Maine, California, Nevada, Washington Education: GA proposal would allow the state to turn public schools over to for-profit charter school companies

Election Vocabulary: Types of Elections & Candidates Candidate – person running for office Incumbent – person running for RE-ELECTION “open seat” – election for an office in which NO INCUMBENT is running “safe” seat – election in which the incumbent is NOT challenged Happens when a district is gerrymandered so that one party has a big advantage in that district and is nearly guaranteed a win

Political Districts every person in the country has people who are elected to REPRESENT them in Congress and their State Legislature. Everyone who lives in the SAME DISTRICT has the SAME REPRESENTATIVE Representatives must live in their own district districting clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r7qJvprHXw NC has 13 seats in Congress, & 13 Congressional districts

Types of Political Districts At Large Districts Single Member Districts Every voter in the entire city/county votes for an office Elected official represents ALL voters; EVERYONE is a constituent Example: 5 seats on county commission Each voter votes for 5 people. Top five vote earners win the seats City/county is divided into separate areas (called districts) Each district picks its own representative Elected officials represent ONLY their own district EXAMPLE (see ballot): 5 seats on county commission 5 districts within the county Each voter votes for ONE person from their district. Winner in each district gets seat on commission

At Large or Single Member district?

Election Too Close to Call? Runoff Elections Some places require candidates to get 50%+1 of the vote to win. If 3 or more candidates split the vote and no one reaches 50%, a RUNOFF election is held between just the top two vote getters Happened in Wake County school board election Recounts If the popular vote is super close (less than 1%), there is an automatic recount of the votes to make sure no mistakes were made Recall Election some states allow voters to remove an official from office BEFORE the end of their term

Quick Write : Use Google Form What is the difference between a “partisan” and “non-partisan” election? What elected bodies or offices are non-partisan? Should we make all elections partisan or keep non-partisan elections? Explain your opinion.

Voter Turnout & Voter Apathy Voter Turnout – perecentage of registered voters that SHOW UP AND VOTE in the election Voter apathy – not bothering to vote even though you have the right to

Causes of Voter Apathy Don’t like Democrats or Republicans Don’t think anything will ever change Don’t see what the election has to do with them

Quick Think (in google form) What are some reasons that voters may be apathetic?

2016 Election Activity  Election Day is Tomorrow!! Use www.270towin.com and follow instructions on your handout. IN CLASS RIGHT NOW: Shade in electoral map on the front (safe states) Fill in 1st column of chart showing how each swing state voted in 2012 At home tomorrow: Watch the election results come in Use the data to finish filling in your map and chart Answer the questions

AND NOW…review Kahoots!! After the kahoot – vocab quiz time!   AND NOW…review Kahoots!!

Work & Review Time: Work on Review Packet if you are Done with this. FORMAT OPTION ONE: Write your ACECES Paragraphs (the lesson 1 PT) What are the core beliefs of the Democratic Party? 2 specific examples What are the core beliefs of the Republican Party? Are you more of a Democrat, a Republican or neither? 2 Specific examples FORMAT OPTION TWO: Pick three issues we have studied. Issue #1: Describe it What do liberals / democrats believe? What do Conservatives / Republicans believe? What do you believe? Issue 2: same format Issue 3: same format