1. Campaigns and Elections

2. What were the original requirements to vote in the US?

3. Extending Suffrage (the right to vote)
Elimination of property requirements (1830)
15th Amendment – Black males can vote (1870)
19th Amendment – Women can vote (1920)
23rd Amendment - 3 Electoral Votes to Washington DC (1961)
24th Amendment - Eliminates poll (voting) taxes (1964)
Civil Rights Act outlawed Jim Crow Laws
26th Amendment – 18 year old vote (1971)

5. Presidential Primaries
Select the candidate from the party that you want delegates to the National Convention from your state to vote for
Open Closed Blanket
Local Caucuses
In local meetings choose the candidate from the party you want and the delegates to conventions.
National Convention
Delegates choose the nominee that will compete for each major party at a convention held during the summer

6. Primary Elections
Election in which voters decide which of the candidates within a party will represent the party in the general election.
Closed primary: only a party’s registered voters are eligible to vote
Open primary: a primary in which party members, independents, and sometimes members of the other party are allowed to vote
Blanket primary: a primary in which voters can cast votes back and forth between candidates from any party (all listed on single ballot, one vote per office)
Non-Partisan – Only the candidate’s name (not party) is on the ballot

7. National Convention Schedule
Day 1
Keynote speaker
Day 2
Announcement of party platform
Platform tells the party’s views on the issues
Day 3
Candidate nomination & speeches
Balloting from the states (majority rule)
Winner (party nominee) names a VP running mate (someone to BALANCE THE TICKET)

8. National Convention Schedule
Day 4
Confirm party nomination
Nominee Acceptance speech
Campaign Kickoff

9. General Elections
General elections decide which candidates will actually fill elective public offices
Held at local, state and federal levels.
Time from National Convention to November election

11. How is the President Elected?
Electoral College
Presidential electors meet in State capitals on Monday following the second Wednesday in December to cast electoral votes needed to win.
Election Day
Voters cast their ballots on Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Voters actually choose presidential electors.
Democrat Nominee
Republican Nominee
Third Party Candidates

12. How does the Electoral College Work?
Electoral votes are determined by total number of senators and representatives in each state
538 total (100 Senate House + 3 DC)
Largest state – California, has 55 electoral votes
Example – Georgia has 2 senators and 14 representatives so our total # of electors is 16

13. Electoral College (2004 & 2008)

14. 2016 Electoral College

15. How does the Electoral College Work?
Voters elect the slate of electors on Election Day. For Georgia: 16 Republicans or 16 Democrats, depending on majority vote.
270 of 538 electoral votes are needed to win.

16. Electoral College 2008

18. Electoral College Results
Use this website to review the Electoral College wins for each of our presidential elections!

19. How does the Electoral College Work?
If no candidate gets 270 votes the House chooses
Provision of the 12th amendment
Choose from top 3 candidates
One vote per state
Often caused by a strong 3rd party candidate
Two elections decided this way
1801: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. It took 36 votes in the House, to choose Jefferson.
1825: Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Jackson had popular vote but neither had the electoral vote. Adams won in the House to become president.

20. If you lose the Popular Vote but win the Electoral College you still become President.
1824:
John Quincy Adams received more than 38,000 fewer votes than Andrew Jackson
neither candidate won a majority of the Electoral College
Adams was awarded the presidency when the election was thrown to the House of Representatives.
1876:
Rutherford B. Hayes a one-vote margin in the Electoral College
lost the popular vote to Samuel J. Tilden by 264,000 votes.
Hayes carried five out of the six smallest states
These five states plus Colorado gave Hayes 22 electoral votes with only 109,000 popular votes.

21. Lose the Popular Vote but win the Electoral College?
1888
Benjamin Harrison lost the popular vote by 95,713 votes to Grover Cleveland, but won the electoral vote by 65.
The South overwhelmingly supported Cleveland, and he won by more than 425,000 votes in six southern states. However, in the rest of the country he lost by more than 300,000 votes.
2000
Al Gore received 50,992,335 votes nationwide and George W. Bush received 50,455,156 votes.
After Bush was awarded the state of Florida, he had a total of 271 electoral votes, which beat Gore's 266 electoral votes.

22. Lose the Popular Vote but win the Electoral College?
2016
Donald Trump won 62,979,636 of the popular votes
Hillary Clinton won 65,844,610 of the popular votes
Donald Trump won the Electoral College 304 – 227
There were 7 “faithless electors”
Washington – 3 for Colin Powell
Washington – 1 for Faith Spotted Eagle
Texas – 1 for Ron Paul
Texas – 1 for John Kasich
Hawaii – 1 for Bernie Sanders

23. Campaign Financing
Presidential Primaries and General Elections are PUBLICLY funded (your tax $$$)
To prove you can raise money on your own:
Raise $5,000 in 20 states and you can get individual contributions up to $250 matched by federal Treasury
Regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC)
a panel of 6 from each major party appointed by the President and approved by the Senate to monitor money spent and earned)

24. The Campaign Finance Laws
Individual Contribution Limits
$2500 max to a candidate
$28,500 to a national party
$10,000 max to a state/local party
MAX AMOUNT: $108,200 per year

25. The Campaign Finance Laws
Interest Group
Political Action Committees (PACs)
Interest Groups like NAACP, AARP, MADD identify candidates that will support their causes
Individuals can donate to interest group PACs
PACs can then donate $5000 to the candidates

26. Coverage of the Campaign: The Media & Public Opinion Polls
What voters hear and see
Paid media – Ads by candidates and interest groups
Free media – Coverage by the news media
How people feel about candidates, elected officials and the government is measured by public opinion polls (surveys) and used by politicians to do their job and by candidates to run their campaigns.

27. What is a Political Party?
A group that tries to get people elected that will share their views and ideas and will work to get laws passed in their favor.

28. Party Systems The US has a two party system
There are two dominant parties
– Democrats and Republicans
Third parties don’t normally win votes
Minor Parties (aka 3rd Parties)
Usually are formed because of disapproval of the two parties.
Usually focus on one or two issues or a popular potential candidate
Can cause the Electoral vote to go to HoR
Libertarians, Green Party, Reform Party

29. Democrats Republicans
Liberals
Minorities
Live in urban areas (major cities)
Blue Collar workers
Support social programs
Support a larger government to provide services
More taxes
Conservatives
Small towns & suburbs
White Collar workers
Support less business regulations
Support a smaller government
Fewer taxes