1. 1 Voters

2. 2 Information Needs Information about candidates Information about voting process (Information about policy making)

3. 3 Information About Candidates Media (TV and radio, newspapers, internet) Candidate sources (websites, campaign events) Other Organizations (PACs, 527s)

4. 4 Internet Coverage Starting with 2000 Presidential election, and especially in 2004, the internet was a major focus of information presentation See Internet Archive of 2000 candidate’s media websites and http://web.archive.org/collections/e2k.html

5. 5 Organizations Political Action Committees (PACs) 527s

6. 6 PACs Contributions from individuals is limited to $5,000 PACs are limited in the amount of money they can contribute to other organizations: –at most $5,000 per candidate per election. –at most $15,000 per political party per year –at most $5,000 per PAC per year No spending limit outside candidate campaigns

7. 7 Sample PACs Sierra Club Democracy for America MoveOn Association of Trial Lawyers of America National Beer Wholesalers Association Godless Americans PAC National Organization for Women NORPAC

8. 8 527 Organizations 527 refers to a section of the US tax code for tax exempt organizations PACs and 527s actually both fall under Section 527, but 527s are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission and do not have the same contribution limits. May not make expenditures to directly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate for federal elective office

9. 9 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

10. 10 MoveOn.org

11. 11 Voting Process Major attention to voting after all the problems of the 2000 election Increased focus on accuracy, auditability, and recounts

12. 12 Electronic Voting Benefits –Fewer voting errors –Faster counts –Accessibility Drawbacks –Software error –Hardware error –Voter confidence –Tampering

13. 13 Vote By Mail Oregon runs all elections by mail Voter turnout is higher (87% in Oregon vs. 64% overall) Cost is lower Benefits and drawbacks?