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
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)
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.
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.
Platform
• A platform is the
candidate’s or
political party’s
declaration of
beliefs in areas such
as crime, drug
abuse, education.
Primary Election
• Is an election held
before the general
election in which
candidates from the
same party compete for
the party nomination.
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.
General Elections
• Regularly scheduled
statewide elections
at which voters make
the final selection for
public office-holders
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.
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%
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
1980 Electoral vote, Reagan vs. Carter
1984 Electoral vote, Reagan vs. Mondale
1988 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Dukakis
Bush was Reagan’s VP, notice the support change
1992 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Clinton
1996 Electoral vote, Clinton vs. Dole
2000 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Gore
2004 Electoral vote, Bush vs. Kerry
2008 Electoral vote, Obama vs. McCain