election day first tuesday following the first monday in november- election day
Post on 20-Dec-2015
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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.
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
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
Campaigning
Political Action Committee (PAC)-organizations that financially support candidates
A PAC can only donate up to $5000 to one candidate
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”
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
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.
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
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 PresidentProblem—the President and
Vice President could come from different political parties
Electoral College The 12th amendment—
fixed the problem with the original system. Electors would cast separate ballots for President and Vice PresidentPresidential Ticket-
Candidates from a political party run for President & Vice President together
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
Electoral College The Formal Election—
when electors voteMonday after the Second
Wednesday in December at the Capitol Building
January 6—both houses of Congress meet in the House Chamber to count ballots.
Electoral College
Election by the House—if a tie occurs in the Electoral votes or no candidates gets a majority, the House of Representatives votesEach 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
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
Before the American Revolution
Blacks, women, and white males who didn’t own property could not vote
1870-15th 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
1965 –Voting Rights Act of 1965, 1970, 1975, 1982
○Ended literacy tests and poll tax (24th 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
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 OFFICEDMVVOTER REGISTRAR
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
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.
5. WHAT IF I CANNOT GO TO THE POLLS TO VOTE?
ABSENTEE BALLOTS CAN BE USED W/O GOING TO THE POLLS, BUT ONLY FOROUT OF TOWNHOSPITALIZEDPHYSICALLY
HANDICAPPEDIN JAIL FOR A
MISDEMEANORRELIGIOUS HOLIDAY
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
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)