Elections and Voting

Where to begin?  Open your books to page 475 and read for me the issue in the news.  What does this issue tell you about elections in our country?

You probably know these people

But do you know who they are?

Or who they are? If you do not know any of these people perhaps you should, the election of 2012 is COMING!

Why should you care?  First election that many of you will be able to vote in  Our country is in real trouble  Elections are the chance for your voice to be heard!

Why do people not vote?  They do not care about politics  “I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.” -Mohandas Gandhi  They think that their vote will not count  Before we discuss this, open your books to page 487 and read Qualification to Vote, Who sets the qualifications to vote, and will my Vote Count  What do these paragraphs tell you?

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Once you know who to vote for you need to know the Procedures:  You vote at a Polling Place which is in your home precinct  A precinct is a voting district, each city or county usually is divided into precincts containing from 200 to 1000 voters  Before the next election you will receive a notification of where you are to vote

Once at the Precinct  You have a very strict set of rules to follow.  Look at page 488 and read the four step process  You cannot be denied voting due to race, religion, gender, income, or political beliefs.  However, you may not wear material supporting a certain candidate

Sample Ballot  Lets take a look at a ballot you would see when you go vote.

What do you have to bring with you?  A government registered ID  You have to register before you go vote and this is a hang up for many Americans, do not forget to register  And you need to bring an educated perspective  Which, you have been working on!

How to win: The Presidency  Well: We do vote, but it comes down to the Electoral College  538 Electoral College Votes: Each represents one legislator in Congress, plus three electoral votes from Washington D.C.  A candidate must win at least 270 electoral votes to become president

Mapping Activity  Everyone should get a chart and a blank US map.  Once you have these grab one marker or one colored pencil  I then want you to use the charts to color in the 11 states with the largest number of electoral votes

Questions and key points to consider:  1: Does it seem fair that all a candidate has to do is win 11 of the 50 states?  2: Why is it unlikely that a single candidate would win all of these 11 states?  3: Is the electoral college still relevant to today's world?

How does it work?  The candidate who receives the greatest number of popular votes USUALLY receives all of that state’s electoral votes  Lets turn in our books to page 476 and read the top two paragraphs from this page.  What about in 2000?  with_mods.php?PROGRAM= &VIDEO=2243&CHAPTER=17&MODE=2 with_mods.php?PROGRAM= &VIDEO=2243&CHAPTER=17&MODE=2

Why did Bush Win?  The election was noteworthy for a controversy over the awarding of Florida's 25 electoral votes, the subsequent recount process in that state, and the unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up.  It was the closest election since 1876 and only the fourth election in which the electoral vote did not reflect the popular vote.1876popular vote  Why can this happen?  Should we eliminate the electoral college? Has its time ran up?

Campaign Strategy  You have to determine how to capture key states in the campaign-Remember what states Bush visited  Do you wage an all out attack campaign or low key campaign?  Do you spend more money on TV or Radio and Internet?  Obama dominated the Internet  In order to do this well every campaign has a campaign manager!

Television  Television is the most important medium for candidates  Image= is something campaigns have to be aware of and package to the constituents  Commercials, appearances on television shows, debates, all help to craft a candidates image

For example in 2008  cials/ cials/2008  Who would you vote for based on these commercials alone?  Hw9Q&feature=fvwrel Hw9Q&feature=fvwrel  70 Million people viewed this debate?  Why so many?

The Internet  Is becoming a huge value to candidates  Howard Dean a Democratic candidate in 2004 was the first to raise campaign contributions through the web.   Since then the Web has become as valuable as the Television

Obama and the Internet  Dominated the Internet in his campaign’s against Hilary and McCain  “Mac guy” vs. “PC” Person: What does that tell you  Connected to the Youth, using social networking and the internet.  He launched his own social network and also used Facebook and YouTube   VZLvVF1FQ VZLvVF1FQ

Financing Campaigns  In 2008: Presidential and Congressional candidates spent more than $4 Billion Dollars  Why so much?  Candidates need money for office space, travel, staff salaries, and ESPECIALLY television advertising

Should it be regulated?  Well, it is  The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and its following Amendments in 1974, 1976, and 1979 provide regulations that apply to campaign finance  It requires that candidates tell us how they spent their money, provide federal money for each candidate?  It also prohibits labor unions and business organizations from making direct contributions, and limits how much individuals can contribute and tried to limit how much individuals can spend on their own campaigns-Is this right? Open your books to page 477 and look at the campaign spending graph

1974 Amendment  Created the Federal Election Commission- Their job, administer federal election laws  Records of campaign contributions must be kept, and any contribution over $100 must be reported to the FEC  Any citizen can inspect these at any time  1976 Supreme Court-Said that limiting individual contributions to campaigns does not violate the 1 st Amendment  But an overall limit on total campaign cost is unconstitutional  So?

You get this. Jon Corzine who in his run for Governor of New Jersey spent $65 Million dollars of his own money.

Public vs. Private Funding  What is the difference?  Open your books to page 478 and read the two sections.  What is the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?  What are Political Action Committees?  And Soft Money?  How does the FEC affect the Internet?

What do you get for winning?  A Mandate from the people  Called a Presidential Mandate  What is this?  So go vote on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November: Election Day