Voting is my right and privilege

1. Voting is my right and privilege I choose you Mr./Ms. President

2. Who can vote • Men and women of any race who are 18 yrs of age • Anyone who is a legal citizen of the United States • Anyone who is a legal citizen in the state in which he or she lives. • Not someone who has committed a serious crime or felony can vote.

3. The importance of voting • The United States is a democracy and republic. • Voting means • Liberty of opinion • Liberty to choose • Liberty to be involved

4. Path to Universal Suffrage • Voting has come a long way • 1776- Only people who are white land owning males over the age of 21. • 1856 -All white men owning property or not are allowed to vote • 1870 -15thamendment is created stating Voting cannot be denied because of race. • 1920- 19th amendment is created giving women the right the vote • 1964- 24th amendment made it illegal to tax to people in order for them to vote • 1965- Voting Rights Act said people did not have to take a reading test in order to vote. It also said that ballots can be printed in other languages . • 1971 – 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

5. I want to be president • To be president according to the constitution you must be • A natural born citizen of the United States • Lived in the US for 14yrs or more • 35 years of age the day of inauguration Theodore Roosevelt 26th President 4 terms in office Youngest president John F. Kennedy 35th President Part of 1 term –assassinated Youngest elected president

6. Presidential duties • Presidents are elected for terms of four years • The max number of four year terms a president can have is two • Pick judges of the supreme court • In charge of the armed forces • Suggest laws, signs laws and veto's laws • Be diplomatic with other countries leaders

7. How do you become President President Barack Obama Senator Mitt Romney

8. Picking a political party • The political party you pick supports beliefs and morals you believe in as well. • Republicans – elephants • Are conservative • Traditional life styles • Everyone makes their own success • Everyone pays and equal amount in taxes • Limited government programs • Noninvolvement of federal government in state government • Democrat- donkey • Liberal • Believe in change and not afraid of moving from the traditional • Want more government programs to promote equality in financial standing • Pay taxes equal to your pay scale

9. How do you become President President Barack Obama Senator Mitt Romney Republican Elephant • Democrat • Donkey

10. The Primaries • Once candidates decide they want to run for president and for which party they need to campaign. • The citizens are giving a list of people who want to be president for each party. • This list needs to be made smaller so there is a something called the primary election. • People vote for who they want to run for president from each political party. You decide to vote either democrat or republican. Then vote for one democrat or republican who you want to run for president. • In the end you end up with a candidate for each group trying to be president

11. The Primary election resultsmeet the 2012 contestants for the Presidential seat VS

12. President Barack Obama

13. Senator Mitt Romney

14. Running MateVice Presidents to be Joe Biden – Democrat Paul Ryan – Republican

15. Campaigning • When you decide to be president you must campaign. • Campaigning is a way for a president to tell the people of America their opinion on certain issue and their plans for the country. Let’s talk about the issues

16. Debating • While on the campaign trail candidates for president and vice president take part in debates over the issues.

17. The people speak • After all the debating and campaigning it is time to vote (November 6, 2012) • People register to vote in the state where they live and in the mail will receive a voter registration card. • There are two ways in which people can vote • Paper voting • Electronic voting

18. Time for college • Next is the job of the Electoral College • When we the people vote is called the popular vote. • This vote basically just shows which candidate is the most popular with the people • The real deciding votes of the president are the electoral college votes.

19. How the Electoral College works • Each state has a certain number of electoral votes. The more people that live in your state-the more electoral votes your state gets. In 48 of the states, the candidate that gets the most votes gets all the electoral votes for that state. The first candidate to win 270 electoral votes becomes the President!

21. Inauguration • On January 20, the President is sworn in, in Washington, D.C. He recites an oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." • After the inauguration, the President nominates people for the jobs he or she wants them to be in charge of in the different departments of the federal government. The heads of the departments of the federal government make up the President's cabinet. There are many jobs to be filled and they are all important. The Senate must approve each nominee. Click here to see a chart that tells what each cabinet member is responsible for.

22. Home is where the work is • The new President and his family move into the White House, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. That's when the hard work really starts. They will live there and work there for the next four years.