Voting
Ch. 10
Warm up
1. What kind of political party system do many
democracies have?
2. What do you learn about by reading a party
platform?
3. What is a political parties stance on a single issue
called?
4. What is the main purpose of a political party?
5. What country is governed by a one party system
6. What can 3rd parties be based on?
7. What is an alliance with another political party
called?
8. What is the purpose of the ‘watchdog’ role?
Eligibility to Vote
18 years old
Resident of the state for a specific time
Citizen of the U.S.
No felonies
Once registered, a person is assigned to
a district
• You can only vote once!
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Voting Process
1. Gather information
1. Newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, and
internet
2. Websites of candidates & political parties
3. Political parties
2. Go to polling place & receive a ballot
3. Cast your ballot – fill out your choices
4. Wait for returns – reporting of election results
5. Absentee Ballot – a way to vote if you will be
unable to vote on election day
6. Exit Poll – way of predicting the winner before
all of the votes are counted by asking people
as they leave who they voted for
Voting Process
North Carolina Sample Ballot
Not Voting
Electorate – people eligible to vote
• Apathy – lack of interest. #1 reason
why people don’t vote
• Following can’t vote
o Felons
o Those in mental hospitals
o People who do not meet state
requirements
• Registration is not a problem – states
allow people to register when they renew
their driver’s license.
• Presidential elections – 50% of
electorate vote
• Elections without Presidential
candidates – between 7% and 20%
vote
• The right to vote belongs to every U.S
citizen. In your opinion, what do
citizens forfeit if they do not exercise
their right to vote?
Political Cartoon
• Voter apathy is a big issue in the U.S.
• I want you to draw a political cartoon
that depicts a reason or several
reasons people give for not voting.
Special Elections
• Initiative – a way citizens can propose new laws or
state constitutional amendments. a petition is signed
with enough signatures from qualified voters, to put
an issue on the ballot
• Proposition – (the proposed law). It is put on the
ballot at the next general election
• Referendum – a way for citizens to approve or reject
a state or local law. people can gather signatures to
review a law passed by the state legislatures and
have it sent back to the voters for their approval at
the next general election
• Usually with very controversial issues
• Recall – special election where voters can vote an
official out of office before their term is up
Campaigning
 Creation of a positive image for a candidate
 Television is the most common means of campaigning
 2 types
 Mass Campaigning – TV, mail – less time consuming
but more expensive
 Grassroots – small level – Canvassing or making
phone calls – cheap but time consuming – the
voters get to personally know the candidate and
the candidate gets to know the voters
 Incumbents – win 80% of the time
 Name recognition
 Franking privilege
 Endorsements – a famous or popular person supports
a candidate
Financing Campaigns
• The Federal Election & Campaign Finance Act of
1971
o Established rules for campaign finance
o Public disclosure of spending
o Established federal funding of presidential
elections
o Limits how much individuals & groups could
spend
o Created the FEC (Federal Election
Committee)
Private Funding
• Soft Money Donations
o Donations given to political parties & not
designated for a particular candidate
o Most goes to TV ads for the parties’ candidates
o Elaborate dinners with individual donations
• Political Action Committees (PACs)
o Organized by special interest groups
o Funds candidates who favor their position on issues
• Hard money vs. Soft money
o Hard money – directly to a candidate
o Soft money – general purpose
Public Funding
• Presidential Election Campaign Fund
o Taxpayers check a box on their federal
income tax returns to designate $3 of their
taxes to the fund
o Candidates can get the money for
primary elections if they have raised
$100,000 on their own
o Barack Obama did not take any public
money for the 2008 Presidential Election
• How do you think the internet has
affected campaigns, or might affect
future campaigns?