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Elections and Voting
Election Day USA
• Federal elections are
held on the first
Tuesday in
November of every
even numbered year
• Every federal election
we vote for our
Representatives and
1/3 of the Senators
• Every 4 years we
vote for President
(and NC Governor)
Requirements for registering to vote in Forsyth County:
You must be a citizen of the United States.
You are a person 18 years of age or older.
You are a person 17 years of age who will be 18 by the date of the
general election.
You have been a legal resident of Forsyth County of North Carolina
for 30 days before the election.
In order to vote in an election, the voter registration form must be:
Postmarked at least 25 days before the election, or
Delivered to the local board of elections office no later than 5:00 PM on
the 25th day before the election
Elections
• Primary Elections
– Purpose: to determine who will represent the
party in the General election
• Ex: Hillary Clinton v. Barack Obama for the
Democratic nomination in 2008
• General Elections
– Purpose: vote between the nominees of the
different party
• Ex: Mitt Romney (R) v. Barack Obama (D)
Open and Closed primaries
• Closed primary:
– Only registered party members can vote
• Open primary:
– Any registered voter can vote, regardless of party
• Runoff:
– In most states, a candidate needs a plurality
– In some, candidate needs a majority
The National Conventions
How does the National
Convention work?
• Delegates from state parties meet to
choose a Presidential candidate
• In modern times, there is little suspense as
the state primaries have already made it
clear who the nominee will be
“No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems.
But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight
change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in
America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of
opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better.
And they want that choice.”
--- Barack Obama delivering the keynote address at the
2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Mass
Flashback: OBAMA for President in 2008???
Campaigning
• Canvassing
– Door to door or telephone
contact with potential voters
– Done mainly by volunteers
– Purposes
•
•
•
•
Identifying supporters
‘Get out the Vote’
Explaining positions
Signing up new members
Campaign Financing
• Where does the money come from?
– Small individual contributions
– Wealthy individuals and families
– The candidates
• Ross Perot spent $65 million of his own $$$ in
1992
– Political Action Committees (PACs)
– Political Parties
• Fundraisers, internet requests, direct mail, etc.
Campaign Finance Reform
• The Federal Election Commission
oversees the following:
– Disclosure: candidates must tell where money
came from
– Limits on contributions ($2100 for individual)
Problems with Finance
Reform…
• Special Interest Groups
and PACs
– Special interest groups
represent a particular
industry or cause
– PACs are the fundraising
arm of an Interest Group
• “Hard” money v. “Soft”
money
– “Soft” money is money
spent on issue awareness
and getting out the vote
– There is almost no limit on
‘soft’ money
• No incentive for
politicians to ‘fix’ the
system because it
benefits those already in
power
• The courts have held that
campaign contributions
are protected as “free
speech”
Special Interest Group
examples
• Abortion
– Planned Parenthood v.
National Right to Life
• Environment
– Greenpeace v. American
Land Rights Association
• Gun control
– NRA (National Rifle
Association) v. Coalition
to Stop Gun Violence
2010 Special Interest
Spending
Lobbyists
• Def: Lobbyists are
employed by Special
Interest Groups to influence
lawmakers to vote for or
against legislation
– The name came from the
fact that they worked in
the lobbies of Congress
• There are many rules that
regulate what lobbyists can
and cannot do
• Biggest criticism: they have
too much influence on
lawmakers
Voters and Voting Behavior
• Def: Electorate
– The electorate is
defined as all eligible
registered voters
• Def: Absentee Voting
– If you will be out of
your voting area on
election day, you can
file an absentee ballot
What influences how people vote?
• In general:
– Education
• Less = D
More = R
– Gender
• Female = D
Male = R
– Race
• White = R
Af Am = D
Lat = ??
– Income
• Lower = D
Higher = R
– Religion
• Protestant = R Catholic, Jewish = D
– Geography
• South = R
Northeast = D
Heartland/West = R
West Coast = D
Midwest = ???
2008 Presidential Election
2008 Presidential: Another view
Who
Votes?
Why do some people choose
NOT to vote?
• The United States suffers from voter apathy:
But there are some encouraging
signs…
The Media and Elections
• Public Opinion:
attitudes held by a
significant number
of people on
matters of
government and
politics
How is public opinion formed?
• Family
– Fundamental attitudes, including religion
• Schools
– First ‘outside’ influence
• Media
– What a person sees and reads
• Peers
– What are the attitudes of your friends and colleagues?
• Opinion Leaders
– Well known people, Celebrities, etc.
• History
– Ex: The Great Depression, 9/11
How is public opinion measured?
• Elections
• Polling
– Relies on a random sample of responses
– How reliable are polls?
• If questions worded properly, they are fairly
accurate
– What purpose do they serve during
campaigns?
• They inform the candidates of how well they are
doing and what issues are most important to the
voters
But sometimes….
What role does the media play?
• The media should present an unbiased
view of the candidates and issues to the
American people
• But…
PROPAGANDA
• Bandwagon:
“Everyone’s doing it!”
PROPAGANDA
• Name calling: “Criticizing the opponent”
PROPAGANDA
• Endorsement: “I’m a famous celebrity and
I support…”
PROPAGANDA
• Card stacking:
“Here’s all the
ways I’m
better than my
opponent…”
PROPAGANDA
• Glittering Generalities: “Vague terms that
don’t really mean anything…”
PROPAGANDA
• Plain folks: “I’m a regular person just like
you…”
PROPAGANDA
• Transfer: “This symbol = ME!”
3 Special elections
• Initiatives
– Ideas that come from the public and are voted
on during elections
• Referendums
– Ideas that come from lawmakers that are
voted on directly by the public
• Recalls
– A special election called to remove an elected
official from office
The Electoral College
• The framers created the electoral college because they
were afraid voters would be uninformed on national
elections
• How does it work?
– Each state has a set number of electoral votes (# of
Reps + # of Senators)
– Whichever candidate gets the most votes in a state
gets ALL of the electoral votes
– You need 270 to win
– If no one gets 270, the House of Representatives
picks the President
The Big Question…
• Do we still need the electoral college?
– Many argue that with modern elections and
vote counting, the person who earns a
plurality of the votes should win
– Candidates don’t campaign in states they
don’t think they can win
– What do you think?
North Carolina 2008