The Right to Vote

Your packet says we live in a democracy, but we really don’t It’s more of a “republic” Our country is run by people who are elected to office. The best way to get what you want as a citizen is to vote for people who have the same ideas as you.

Two kinds of elections: For candidates (people) Whether a primary or general election. Whether local, state, or federal – or all For issues Tax increases for schools, Fire Departments, Police, Libraries, Parks, etc… Issues such as smoking age, building a new ? In town, local decisions, new amendment decisions

Some ways people have been restricted from voting (in the past) Pre Civil War Amendments: no slaves could vote Early in U.S. History: had to own property to be able to vote Some states used to have poll taxes: needed to pay a fee to vote. Some states wouldn’t let you vote unless you could read and write. Women couldn’t vote until th Amendment: let people from vote for the first time

Voting today: Anyone over 18 - unless You’ve been convicted of a felony If you have a mental illness that keeps you from making good decisions

To register to vote: Elections are done through the County Clerk’s office. You have to register to vote at least 30 days before the election You must be an American citizen (born in the U.S. or born to American parents) You must be at least 18 years old on election day. You must have lived in the state for at least 30 days

Some elections decided by small margins: In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England. In 1649, one vote caused Charles 1 of England to be executed. In 1776, prior to the onset of the American Revolution. The newly formed United States considered severing all ties with the mother country by changing our language from English to German. A proposal for this was presented to Congress, but the vote ended in a tie. The deadlock was finally broken when the son of a German immigrant cast his vote in favor of English.

and… In 1800, the presidential election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr was tied - after ballots were cast 36 times by the House, the vote was still tied. Then, one Federalist changed his vote. Jefferson was elected President on the 37th ballot. In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the Union. In 1875, France became a Republic by one single vote. In 1846, one vote for the Mexican War brought us not only victory, but the territory of five great states, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and California. In 1941, one vote saved Selective Service weeks before Pearl Harbor.

Preparing to Vote

General voting words Ballot: the paper you vote on. Candidate: someone running for office. Issues: important ideas or concerns. Endorsement: when someone says they’re supporting / backing a certain candidate. Proposals: another name for issues.

Ways to find out about candidates and/or issues Newspapers – especially the editorials Magazines – Time, Newsweek, etc… Television – even those Sunday morning shows - or the political channels Radio – Talk radio Debates – TV / radio for big debates Pamphlets – often sent to your house

Political Parties Major Democrats Republicans Others (Minority Parties) /parties.htm Some others are Non-Partisan (no party)

Primary and General Elections An election to nominate (name) candidates to run for office. For example: there may be 5 different Democrats wanting to run for office, so in a primary, they’ll vote to see which one of the 5 will be the one to run. The election that decides who will be the one who actually wins and takes office.

Closed / Open Primaries You must be registered as a member of a political party to vote. Democrats could only vote for primary Democrats. Would keep the other side from voting for someone who wouldn’t beat their candidate. Every registered voter can vote – no matter which political party they belong to.

Split tickets Voting for people in more than one political party (splitting your vote a couple of ways). Example: voting for a Republican President and a Democratic Governor In some primaries, you cannot vote a split ticket.

Absentee Ballots If for some reason you know ahead of time you won’t be able to vote, you can get an absentee ballot. Like: soldiers in another country, people out of their home state for vacation or business, or elderly people who’d have a hard time getting out to vote.

Soweto, South Africa (1994)

Voting for the President is a unique kind of vote. Presidents get elected through the “electoral college” (Each state gets one “vote” for each Representative and each Senator)

2004 results

How Does this Work? In total, there are 538 electoral votes. To become president, you need at least 270 electoral votes. That’s why on presidential election nights you’ll see the news showing the number of electoral votes and a list of the states each candidate has “won.” It is completely possible to become president even though a lot more people voted for the other candidate. You just need more electoral votes than them. This has happened a couple of times in the history of our country. The length of time for this process to take place is another one of the reasons why it takes over two months for the president to take office after election day (from the first Tuesday in November until January 20 th ). This electoral college has worked well with the two party system we now have (Republicans and Democrats). If our country had a third party that became popular, it could split the vote where no-one would get a 270 majority. That’s when the whole process gets VERY complicated. What happens if there’s a tie? It takes “270 to win,” so if neither candidate gets a majority of the Electoral Votes, the election for President is decided in the House of Representatives, with each state delegation having one vote. Senators would elect the Vice-President. This has happened two times. Once in 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied. Thomas Jefferson won. The second time was in 1824 when the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson even though he probably had more popular votes.