1. Voting in Recent Elections http://www.census.gov/Press- Release/www/releases/archives/voting/013995.ht ml http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p20- 557.pdf

2. Where and how do you vote?

3. Where Precincts Polling Places When Election Day  November, every even numbered year, Tuesday after the first Monday Who (common state laws) Age, Residency, Citizenship IL must register 30 days before

4. How Absentee Voting  Vote without going to the poll  20 million people in 2004  Apply for absentee ballot Straight-ticket voting  Vote for all or most candidates associated with your party Split-ticket voting  Vote for candidates of different parties Coattail Effect  Strong candidate can attract voters to their party

5. http://www.elections.il.gov/VotingInformation/welcome.aspx

6. Non-Voting Why don’t people vote?

7. Why is voter turnout so low in the U.S.? “I don’t care” “My vote doesn’t count…I’m only one person!” “It takes too much time” “Even if I vote, the representatives won’t respond.” “Both of the candidates are idiots!” “I don’t know anything about politics, the candidates, or the issues.” “Registration is tough to do” (Only 2/3 of the voting age is registered)

9. Why people do not vote “Cannot-Voters”: Those unable to vote Actual non-voters: Those who…  Believe it doesn’t make a difference  Distrust politics  Have no sense of political efficacy (own influence or effectiveness in politics)

10. Voters vs. Non-Voters Voters  Higher income, education, & status  Long-time residents  Strong party affiliation Non-Voters  Younger than 35  Unmarried or unskilled  Rural/low socio-economic status

11. Nominating Process and Candidates

12. Nomination- candidate selection 1. Self-Announcement 2. The Caucus 3. Convention 4. Direct Primary http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1801 Closed- only declared party members can vote, primary is closed to anyone else Open- any qualified voter can cast a ballot IL- Must vote in primary of same party as last primary the voter participated in. Loosely enforced. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus. 5. Petition (local levels)

13. Electoral College

14. Need 270 to win election! Senators + Representatives= # of electoral votes

15. http://www.270towin.com/

16. Are you an “Idiot”?  “Idiot” in Greek means those who didn’t vote or take part in public life  http://www.rockthevote.com/home.php http://www.rockthevote.com/home.php

17. Is voting equal opportunity? Voting Article

18. Money and Campaigns http://www.fec.gov/ http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/map App.do http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/map App.do http://www.fec.gov/ans/answers.shtml

19. Money $$$$ Soft v Hard Money  Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) PACs Private v. Public Contributions http://www.opensecrets.org/states/election.a sp?State=IL&Year=2006