J O R D A N O H N M E I S, E L I SSA O L I V E I R A , D AV I D WA I N S C O TT

2012 Election Results

Presidential election results

332 Electoral college votes went for Barack Obama(62,611,250 Popular Votes)

206 went to Mitt Romney(59,134,475 Popular Votes)

Election map

Mandate

-Give (someone) authority to act in a certain way

Given the result of the election (Obama winning), Obama was given a Mandate by the public. i.e. The people have given him authority to act as president.

Voter turnout

Voter turnout in several states (Hawaii, West Virginia, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas) actually set new records for lowest voter turnout in this election – contrasting 2004 and 2008’s recent upsurge of voting around the country. The trend of low voting numbers was characteristic across the country.

Gubernatorial elections

-Election of a governor by the state.

12 held in 2012Rupublicans won 5Democrats won 7Republicans won one away from democrats,

bringing the totals higher in their favor.

2012 House elections

D. Blue: Dems held. L. Blue: Dems took D. Red: Repub held. L. Red: Repub took

2012 Senate election

D. Yellow: Ind hold L. Yellow: Ind Take

Swing states

OH, IO, WI, NV, NH, and VA went dem.CO, NC, and FL went Repub.

Coattail effect

The coattail effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. For example, in the United States, the party of a victorious presidential candidate will often win many seats in Congress as well; these congressmen are voted into office “on the coattails” of the president.(Wikipedia)

Very little was seen in 2012. Lots of split-ticket voting occurred.

Questions

What is a mandate?A. A written demand B. Governmental request for action on a billC. Giving someone authority to act in some way

Questions (cont.)

How did Obama’s popular vote change from 2008 to 2012?A. 2012 was higherB. 2008 was higher

Questions (cont.)

Which two states had record low voting turnouts?A. HawaiiB. AlaskaC. New YorkD. Ohio

Questions (cont.)

How many Gubernatorial elections were held in 2012?

A. 9B. 10C. 12D. 15

Questions (cont.)

Which of the following is a swing state?

A. ColoradoB. CaliforniaC. TexasD. Maine