Presentation Transcript

1. Suffrage; the right to vote, is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution until the 15th Amendment. The Fifteenth Amendment (Amendment XV) to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Ratified on February 3, 1870
2. Since the 15th Amendment, who can vote is the subject of other Amendments 19th Amendment - The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. (1920) 24th Amendment - The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of people pay poll tax or other tax. (1964) 26th Amendment - The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. (1971)
3. The Twenty-third Amendment (Amendment XXIII) to the United States Constitution permits citizens in the District of Columbia to vote for Electors for President and Vice President. The amendment was proposed by Congress on June 17, 1960, and ratified by the states on March 29, 1961. The first Presidential election in which it was in effect was the presidential election of 1964.
4. Campaign An organized, planned action for the purpose of getting a candidate elected. It may include campaign manager(s), political consultants, fund raisers, speech writers and speeches, press secretary, policy experts, lawyers and accountants, researchers, travel planner, events coordinator, image building, etc. It is how the candidate will become known to voters.
5. Platform A platform is the candidate’s or political party’s declaration of beliefs in areas such as crime, drug abuse, education.
6. Primary Election Is an election held before the general election in which candidates from the same party compete for the party nomination.
7. Primary Election In a primary election, Democrats run against Democrats and Republicans run against Republicans. The Democrat winner and the Republican winner face each other in the general election. There are two types of primaries; open primary and closed primary. In a closed primary only registered party members may take part in the election and vote for their party’s candidate. In an open primary any registered voter may vote for any Candidate running in the election.
8. General Elections Regularly scheduled statewide elections at which voters make the final selection for public office-holders
9. Run-off Election A repeat election between 2 front runners in a prior election when no candidate has received a majority of votes. Run-off elections are usually held in places where the law requires a majority vote.
10. All states have different election laws. How elections are run is a state right to decide. Majority vs. plurality election In a majority election one candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote usually in a two person race. Candidate A: 50.1% Candidate B: 49.9% In a plurality election the candidate that receives the highest percentage of votes wins the election Candidate A: 37% Candidate B: 32% Candidate C: 19% Candidate D: 12%
11. The only nationwide election in the country is the Presidential election. The election for president begins in January of the election year. A party primary is held in nearly every state from January till the summer months leading into the party convention where the party candidate is chosen. Some states may hold a caucus rather than a primary. A caucus is a meeting of members of a political party to coordinate members' actions, choose group policy, or nominate candidates for office.
12. Once all primaries and caucuses are held, the Candidate that has won the most delegates to the convention for their party will become the party nominee. On the first Tuesday of November an election is held for president between the Democrat candidate and the Republican candidate. Other parties may run candidates as well, these are 3rd parties. In December the electors from each state meet in their state capitols the cast their Electoral College vote for president based on the popular vote of the people.
13. Electoral College The group of electors who are selected by the voters in each state to officially elect the president and vice president. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of each state’s representatives in both houses of Congress. Many people believe the Electoral College is an undemocratic way to elect the president. Do you think the Electoral College should be eliminated?
14. How the Electoral College works? Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of its U.S. senators plus the number of its U.S. representatives. Currently, the Electoral College includes 538 electors, 535 for the total number of congressional members, and three who represent Washington, D.C., as allowed by the 23rd Amendment. On the Monday following the second Wednesday in December, the electors of each state meet in their respective state capitals to officially cast their votes for president and vice president. These votes are then sealed and sent to the president of the Senate, who on January 6th opens and reads the votes in the presence of both houses of Congress. The winner is sworn into office at noon on January 20th.
15. How the Electoral College works? When a candidate wins the popular vote of a state on election day, that candidate wins the party electors for that state and those electors will vote in their respective state capitol for president. What makes the Electoral College democratic is that it is based on the popular vote of the state. A candidate may win the popular vote in the whole country but lose the Electoral College vote.
16. 1980 Electoral vote, Reagan vs. Carter
17. 1984 Electoral vote, Reagan vs. Mondale
18. 1988 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Dukakis Bush was Reagan’s VP, notice the support change
19. 1992 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Clinton
20. 1996 Electoral vote, Clinton vs. Dole
21. 2000 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Gore
22. 2004 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Kerry
23. 2008 Electoral vote, Obama vs. McCain