2. Election Day  First Tuesday following the first Monday in November- Election Day

3. Electoral College  Electoral Votes- votes of the electors (Electoral College)  Total number of representatives a state has in the House of Representatives and the Senate.  The total number of electoral votes are 538 (435 in HOR+ 100 Senate+ 3 for DC=538  A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency  VA has 13; CA 55; NY 29; TX 38; FL 29; RI 3--- a candidate must campaign harder in large states (states that have a large number of electoral votes because they must get to the 270 needed to win the presidency.  The formal election is when the electors vote. The Monday after the second Wednesday in December.

4. Popular vote  Popular votes-the People’s vote. The candidate who wins the most votes in a state wins all of the state’s electoral votes

5. Campaigning  Federal Election Campaign Acts-  A presidential candidate can receive public funding for elections  A limit is set on how much a candidate can spend  Candidates must disclose or record all spending

6. Campaigning  Political Action Committee (PAC)- organizations that financially support candidates  A PAC can only donate up to $5000 to one candidate

7. Campaigning  “soft money”—unlimited amounts of money that a group can give to a political party; not to an individual  McCain-Feingold bill— legislation to limit “soft money”

8. Campaigning  Candidates and the media- the media can give a positive or negative image for candidates.  The first televised debate was in 1960 between Kennedy and Nixon

9. Campaigning  Undecided voters of the electorate- Electorate- people entitled to vote  Campaigns are aimed towards the undecided voter because they do not know how they will vote.

10. Electoral College  Article II, Section 1—Established the Electoral College. It provided that each state would choose electors. They would meet and cast votes for two presidential candidates

11. Electoral College  The Original System— Candidates receiving a majority of the electoral votes would be President. Candidates with the second highest votes would be Vice President Problem—the President and Vice President could come from different political parties

12. Electoral College  The 12 th amendment— fixed the problem with the original system. Electors would cast separate ballots for President and Vice President Presidential Ticket- Candidates from a political party run for President & Vice President together

13. Electoral College  # in Electoral College— 538===435(House of Representatives) + 100 (Senators) + 3 (DC) Winning-the Presidential candidates must have a majority of electoral votes to win—270

14. Electoral College  The Formal Election— when electors vote Monday after the Second Wednesday in December at the Capitol Building  January 6—both houses of Congress meet in the House Chamber to count ballots.

15. Electoral College  Election by the House— if a tie occurs in the Electoral votes or no candidates gets a majority, the House of Representatives votes Each of the 50 states gets one vote—the candidate with the majority wins If a tie occurs in the House vote—the Vice President breaks the tie

16. Electoral College  Ideas for reforming the Electoral College-- Voting by districts—candidates receive a vote for each district won (ex: VA has 11 districts—McCain gets 4 electoral votes for the 4 districts won/Obama gets 7 electoral votes for the 7 districts won. No winner take all) Proportional voting—candidate wins the percentage of electoral votes based on the % of the popular vote (ex: If Obama won 60% of the electoral vote in VA, then he would get 60% of VA 13 electoral votes and McCain would get 40% of VA’s electoral votes) Eliminate the Electoral College—the popular vote would determine the president

18. Before the American Revolution  Blacks, women, and white males who didn’t own property could not vote

19. By the Early 1800s  property and religious tests for voting were outlawed

20. By the Mid 1800s  all adult males who were white could vote

21. 1870-15 th amendment (no state could deprive any citizen the right to vote on the basis of race)  So many states used other methods to deprive blacks the right to vote: ○ Grandfather clause (could not vote, if grandfather had not voted before 1867) ○ Literacy tests ○ Poll tax

22.  1915- Supreme Court ruled the grandfather clause was unconstitutional

23.  1919-19 th amendment gave women the right to vote

24. 1965 –Voting Rights Act of 1965, 1970, 1975, 1982 ○ Ended literacy tests and poll tax (24 th amendment) ○ Federal government could register voters in districts with less than 50% blacks voting ○ Outlawed unfair division of election districts ○ Poll watchers ○ Ballots printed in Spanish

25.  1971-26 th Amendment – lowered the voting age to 18

27. 1. QUALIFICATIONS  18 YEARS OLD  US CITIZEN  NOT A CONVICTED FELON (VA)  LEGALLY SANE (VA)

28. 2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO REGISTER?  ENROLL WITH THE APPROPRIATE LOCAL AUTHORITY  Some states also have residency requirements. You may have to live in an area for a certain amount of time before voting.  YOU CAN REGISTER AT THE POST OFFICE DMV VOTER REGISTRAR

29. 3. HOW DO WE VOTE?  WE USE A SECRET BALLOT (AUSTRALIAN BALLOT)  SHOW ID  INSERT BALLOT (CARD)  MAKE CHOICE -STATES CHOOSE METHOD OF VOTING (MAY BE ELECTRONIC OR PAPER)  INSERT BALLOT INTO READER  GET A “I VOTED” STICKER

30. 4. What is “The Ticket”?  The list of candidates nominated for political office  When voting, voters look at the Democratic or Republican tickets.  Ticket-splitting is voting for candidates from different parties.

31. 5. WHAT IF I CANNOT GO TO THE POLLS TO VOTE?  ABSENTEE BALLOTS CAN BE USED W/O GOING TO THE POLLS, BUT ONLY FOR OUT OF TOWN HOSPITALIZED PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED IN JAIL FOR A MISDEMEANOR RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY

32. 6. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HOW WE VOTE... PERSONAL BACKGROUND – AGE – RACE – GENDER – RELIGION – INCOME – EDUCATION – FAMILY **cross-pressured voter- one who is caught in conflict between elements in their life

33. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HOW WE VOTE...  LOYALTY TO POLITICAL PARTY  --straight party voter—always vote with their party  --Strong party voter--usually vote with party  --weak party voter—sometimes vote with party (also may be called an independent)

34. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HOW WE VOTE...  Issues-the media keeps us more informed today

35. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HOW WE VOTE...  Image- the candidate should have an image of trust, honesty, and a leader