The document discusses the US electoral process and voting system. It covers topics like voter registration requirements, primary and general elections, the role of the electoral college, campaign financing, and criticisms of the current system. It provides details on how elections work at the federal, state, and local level in a concise yet comprehensive manner.

1. Elections and Voting

2. Election Day USA
• Federal elections are
held on the first
Tuesday in
November of every
even numbered year
• Every 4 years we
vote for President

3. Requirements for registering to vote in Durham 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 Durham 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

4. 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
• General Elections
– Purpose: vote between the nominees of the
different party
• Ex: John McCain (R) v. Barack Obama (D)

5. Open and Closed primaries
• Closed primary:
– Only registered party members can vote
• Open primary:
– Any registered voter can vote, regardless of party

6. The National Conventions

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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 $$$
– Political Action Committees (PACs)
– Parties
• Fundraisers, internet requests, direct mail, etc.

10. Campaign Finance Reform
• The Federal Election Commission
oversees the following:
– Disclosure: candidates must tell where money
came from
– Limits on contributions ($2100 for individual)

11. Problems with Finance Reform…
• Special Interest Groups • No incentive for
and PACs politicians to ‘fix’ the
– Special interest groups system because it
represent a particular benefits those already in
industry or cause power
– PACs are the fundraising
arm of an Interest Group • The courts have held that
campaign contributions
• “Hard” money v. “Soft” are protected as “free
money speech”
– “Soft” money is money
spent on issue awareness
and getting out the vote
– There is almost no limit on
‘soft’ money

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. Why do some people choose
NOT to vote?
• The United States suffers from voter apathy:

16. But there are some encouraging signs…

17. The Media and Elections
• Public Opinion:
attitudes held by a
significant number
of people on
matters of
government and
politics

18. 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

19. 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

20. But sometimes….

21. What role does the media play?
• The media should present an unbiased
view of the candidates and issues to the
American people
• But…

22. PROPAGANDA
• Bandwagon:
“Everyone’s doing it!”

23. PROPAGANDA
• Name calling: “Criticizing the opponent”

24. PROPAGANDA
• Endorsement: “I’m a famous celebrity and
I support…”

25. PROPAGANDA
• Glittering Generalities: “Vague terms that
don’t really mean anything…”

26. PROPAGANDA
• Plain folks: “I’m a regular person just like
you…”

27. PROPAGANDA
• Transfer: “This symbol = ME!”

28. 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

29. Electoral College Setup
• The electoral college votes decide who will be
president, not the popular vote
• Each state has electoral votes equal to the
number of its congressional representatives
• For example, a state with two Senators and
three congressmen would have five electoral
votes
• The District of Columbia also has three electoral
votes, even though it has no voting
congressional representation
29

30. Election Process
• Winner-take-all: The presidential
candidate who wins the most votes in
the state will get all of the electoral
votes.
30

31. 535 electoral votes for each member of
Congress + 3 electoral votes for the
District of Columbia = 538
31

32. Shortcoming of the Electoral
College System
• A candidate who does not win the
popular vote can still be elected
president. This has happened four
times in American history. Winning
under these circumstances usually
results in an ineffective presidency.
32

38. 2012 Electoral Voting Results
38

39. 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?