Voting and Elections Dennis & Patten Participation in Government Mepham High School

Voting Qualifications In order to vote in U.S. elections you must be  18 years old  Resident of the state you’re voting in  Citizen of the U.S.  Registered to vote registration/vra_2003_update.pdf

Who Votes? People eligible to vote are called the electorate People’s voting rights will be denied if  They are inmates in mental hospitals  They have been convicted of a felony  They do not meet the residency requirements in their state

Why Should I Vote? The right to vote is considered to be our greatest freedom People should exercise their right to vote because it allows citizens to  Choose their govt. leaders  Elect new leaders if dissatisfied with performance of current leaders  Express their opinions on public issues  Examples:

Where Do I Vote? Precincts  Each address is assigned to a specific precinct number  Each precinct has specific locations where its residents go to vote (polling stations)  Can find precinct number here: (if registered)

Sample Voter Info Card

How Do I Vote? Polling stations open as early as 5AM and close as late as 8 or 9 PM Each voting precinct decides the method of voting to use:  Mechanical Machine - Levers  Electronic Voting – Touch Screen / Optical Scan  Paper Ballot – Paper/Punch Card

Voting Methods Electronic Voting Opti-Scan Voting Machine Touch Screen Voting

Voting Methods Mechanical Machine

Voting Methods Paper Ballot Basic Paper Punch Cards (holes called CHADS) Datavote

Voting Methods

When Do I Vote? General Election Day  1 st Tuesday after the 1 st Monday in Nov.  Could be voting for  President of the U.S.  Governor  Senators  Representatives  State Legislators  Any state, federal, or local officials Mid-term Elections (Same Day as Above)  Elections in which members of Congress and some Governors are being elected, but not the President

Voting Types Straight Ticket Voting  Voting for all candidates in one party  Some states make it easy by having a column on ballot for each party

Voting Types Write In Voting  Voters can write in names of candidates they wish to vote for, whose names do not appear on the ballot  Candidate has to be an officially endorsed candidate for vote to count

Voting Types Absentee Voting  Voters who cannot get to the polls on Election Day can use an absentee ballot  Can be requested from the local election board as early as 180 days before Election Day  Ballots opened and counted in your precinct on Election Day

Voting Types Advance Voting  Allows any registered voter to cast a ballot in person at the county voter registration office during normal business hours on the Monday through Friday of the week prior to an election.county voter registration office

Counting the Votes Election workers count votes after polls close Ballots then taken to election board and they count votes again News media and party workers try to predict winners as soon as possible through exit polls  also used to deter voter fraud