Voting and Election Notes

1. Voting
A. Requirement to Vote in NC
1. Must be 18 by the next November election
2. You are registered at least 21 days before the election
3. You are a resident of the state where you will be voting
4. You are a U.S. citizen

http://
www.sboe.state.nc.us/items.aspx?id=5&
s=5

B. Who is NOT allowed to Vote

1. People convicted of felonies -- unless they have
their citizenship rights restored
http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=0
00286

2. Individuals in mental hospitals

C.

Why People Vote

1. Sense of Duty
2. Support a particular party
3. Support a particular candidate
4. Voice an opinion on a particular issue

D. Why People Do NOT Vote

1.

Apathy : a lack of interest or concern

Apathy

Salvador Dali - The Face

Of War

APATH
Y
By Tyler
Waddell

2. No Time

3. People Not registered

4.

Do Not feel their vote matters.

II. Elections
A. They are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November in every even numbered year

B. Registering to vote fill out a form and send it in to the voter

registration office in the county where you live

These are people who just

register.
Do they look happy?
They are claiming their power.

C. Absentee voting request to vote through the mail if you

will be unable to vote on the day of the election

Post Office City State Zipcode

Absent Voter Ballot Application

App
The primary or special primary election to be held on
_____________________, 20_______.
lication for absent voter ballot for: The election to be held
on _____________________, 20_______.
I, ___________________________, a qualified and registered elector of the
_______ precinct of the township of _____________________ or village of
_____________________ or of the _______ ward of the city of
_____________________, in the county of _____________________ and state of
Michigan,
apply for an official ballot, or ballots, to be voted by me at the election or
elections as requested in this application.
The
I expect to be absent from the community in which I am registered for
the entire time the polls are open on election day.
statutory grounds on which I base my request are (Check
applicable reason):
I am physically unable to attend the polls without the assistance of
another.
I cannot attend the polls because of the tenets of my religion.
I have been appointed an election precinct inspector in a precinct
other than the precinct where I reside.

D. Steps in Voting
1. A registered voter should go to their polling place: the location
where people vote. (ex.: town halls, fire stations, schools)
2. A precinct is a voting district.
3. Most polling place open up at 6:30 until 7:00
4. Registered voter must show their ID and are given a ballot
(list of candidates)
5. You then write your name and address on a form and sign
your name.
6. Cast your ballot. All voting should be private.
7. When voters are leaving the polling place sometimes an exit
poll is taken. Exit Polls pollster ask random voters how
they voted to help make prediction on election results
before the polls are closed.

E. Types of Ballots
Paper Ballot

Butterfly Ballot

Punch- Card Ballots

Hanging Chads

Computerized or
Electronic Ballots

Scanned
Ballots

Which Ballot do
you think would be
the most reliable?
What type of
ballots does NC
use?

III. A. How to get nominated by your party

1. Caucus A meeting of political party members
to conduct party business
NOT ---Chapter 3 in Alice in
Wonderland

Caucus Image : early voting in

Atlanta

34th Legislative District

Democratic Caucus at
West Seattle High School

2. Nominating or National Convention party members elect delegates to attend the

national convention to choose party candidates

National Convention
The Democrats and Republicans hold huge national
conventions every four years, and all of the states participate.
This event takes place in the summer before the presidential
election. Representing the states voters, each state party
sends delegates to vote for the candidate preferred in their
state.
Each party will have chosen its final candidates for president
when the conventions end. Each party also writes its platform
at the conventions. Platform is a plan of action for the
government in the next four years. The platform lists the ideas
that the party will stand on. It also outlines the party position
on the important problems that face the nation. The Vietnam
War was on everyones mind in the 1960s and 1970s.
Candidates and parties, more recently, have had to show where
they stand on health-care reform, the economy and budget,
and the environment.

The Primary
Election

To begin with, there may be many candidates. Only one

candidate from each party will eventually be chosen to run for
president. People who are members of the two main political
parties often help to select that one person months before the
actual presidential election. They do this by voting in primary
elections that are held in many states.
The primary election season usually begins in February. The first
primary election takes place in New Hampshire and ends early
in June. Party members choose the candidate they prefer from
their state in each state primary. Candidates in some states are
chosen at a large state meeting called a convention, or at

Open Primary voters do not have to register with one of the parties to
be eligible to vote in primary

b. Closed primary voters must be register with one of the parties to

be eligible to vote in primary

B. How to get chosen by people

1. Advertise
a . Propaganda an attempt to try and persuade
voters to support a particular person or idea
Propaganda Posters

B. Use Techniques like :

* Card Stacking
* Glittering Generalities
* Name Calling
* Bandwagon
* Endorsements
* Symbols
* Just plain folks
* Image molding

http://
www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2008

2. Public appearances-going to public functions or making

speeches in public

3. Debates- meeting between the candidates to discuss

political issues

4. Canvassing going to cities and towns and asking people to

support a candidate, opinion polls, door to door

A. How to pay for your campaign

a. Private funding
b. Individuals
c. Fund- Raising Events

SUMMARIZE the following:

d. Political action committees (PAC): Political Action Committee are
political organizations established by special interest groups
(corporations, labor unions) to support political candidates by contributing
money to their campaign. Corporations and individuals cannot give
unlimited monies directly to a campaign but they can give unrestricted
amounts to the PAC. This is caused soft money.

Associated General Contractors

of Kansas
Building a Better Kansas since
1946

SOFT and hard MONEY

'Hard' money is contributed
directly to a candidate. It is
regulated by law and monitored by
the Federal Election Commission.
Individuals can give no more than
$1,000 to a specific candidate in a
given year.

'Soft' money is contributed to

the Republican and Democratic
National Committees, and to the
party committees in each state.
'Soft' contributions are not as
heavily regulated. The parties may
use such money to promote
candidates or finance party
projects, such as political
conventions.
Read more:

SUMMARIZE

2. Public funding
a. Presidential Election Campaign Fund monies from taxes that are
available to candidates to help them pay for campaign activities.
The presidential election campaign fund check off appears on US income tax return
forms as the question Do you want $3 of your federal tax to go to the Presidential Election
Campaign Fund?
2008 Election
General Election Limit: $84.1 million
Overall Primary Limit: $42.05 million
b. Federal Election Campaign Act or FECA Limits individual
and PAC contributions

The FECA placed limits on contributions by individuals and groups to

candidates, party committees and PACs. Some but not all of these limits
are adjusted each election cycle for inflation. The chart below shows how
the limits applied to the various participants in federal elections. :
To each
candidate
or
candidate
committee
per
election
Individuals
$1,000
may give:
Multi
candidate
committee $5,000
s may
give:
Other
political
Committee $2,400
s may

To national
party
committee
per
calendar
year

To political
action
committee
s per
Total
calendar
biennial
year
limit

$30,400

$5,000

$115,500

$15,000

$5,000

No limit

$20,000

$5,000

No limit

IV. Influences on Elections

A. Interest Groups
1. Purpose
a. Bring issues and concerns to the attention of the
public, lawmakers, and policy makers
b. Represent the concerns and interests of specific groups
c. Support political candidates who favor their interests

Home
Builder
Association
of North
Carolina
Department
of
Environment
and Natural
Resources

2. Reasons Interest Groups Form

a. support a particular economic interest

i.
Labor Unions
ii. Business organizations (National Chamber of Commerce,
National Association of Manufacturers)
iii. Professional associations (American Medical Association,
American Bar Association)
LABOR UNIONS

b. Support a particular ethnic, age, or gender group (ex- NAACP, AARP,

NOW)
c. Support specific causes (Ex. - Sierra Club, NRA)
d. Public Interest Groups (Ex. - American Civil Liberties Union)

3. Method ----- Lobbying

Lobbyists: people hired by private groups (interest groups)
to influence government decision makers.

NC League of
Municipalities
Chief
Legislative Counsel
NC League of Municipalities
(Non-Profit; Government Administration industry)
March 2009 Present (1 year 9 months)
Lobbyist and legal counsel for all NC cities and towns,
as well as 2000+ elected municipal officials
Sr. Associate General Counsel
NC Assocciation of County Commissioners
(Government Relations industry)
September 1997 March 2009
(11 years 7 months)
Lobbyist and legal advisor of all NC county
governments and 500+ elected county officials

Federal Election Campaign Act 1971: Restricts the amount of money a PACs may
Contribute to candidates for national office

B. Public Opinion Polls

1. Measure attitudes and opinions of large groups of people
2. Let candidates know if their campaigns are working

Opinion Polls are

surveys

1. Is the question above biased or unbiased?

2. Why is this a horrid example of polling for objective
information?
3. How might the democrats use this data to their

3. Affected by
a. age, economy, gender, income, religion, race, jobs, hobbies,
interest, family

b. Media newspapers, magazines, TV, radio

c. Public officials speeches, press conferences, interviews
d. Special interest groups

4. Making Polls accurate

a. Ask a large number of people
b. Ask many different kinds of people
c. Word questions so they do not reflect bias

V. November Election
A. First Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every even
numbered year
B. What is the public really voting for in general election?
a. In all elections but the presidential candidates are elected by the popular
vote (votes case directly by the people); the candidate who receive the
majority of
he popular vote wins the office
b. When casting votes for a presidential candidate a person is really casting
a vote for an elector- a person is really casting a vote deciding who
the president and vice- president will be
c. Electors are members of the Electoral College meet in December and cast
their votes for president and vice-president
d. The members of the Electoral College meet in December and cast their
votes for president and vice-president
e. There are 538 electoral votes total- 434 people in the U.S. House + 100
people in the U.S. Senate + 3 votes for Washington D.C.
f. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency

Barack
Obama
67,066,915
52.7%

John McCain
58,421,377
45.9%

g. The number of electoral votes each state gets is determined by the

number of people they have in the U.S. House of representatives + the
number of people they have in the U.S. Senate
h. N.C. has 15 electoral votes- 13 members in the U.S. House of
Representatives + 2 members of the U.S. senate
i. NC is a winner take all state, the candidate that gets the largest
popular vote will receive all the state electoral votes

C. Criticisms of Electoral College

a. States with more electoral votes have more influence on election
b. Candidate can win popular vote and still lose electoral vote (Ex: 2000
Presidential Al Gore won the popular vote, George Bush won the
electoral vote)
D. Suggested Reform
a. Electoral votes will be based on a percentage of the popular vote
b. Eliminate the Electoral College and use popular vote