Polling Places

-Polling Places

-precinct based

-Usually in schools, town halls, public places

-open early and close late

7-7 or 8-8

General Elections

-Elections are controlled by the local Board of Elections

-General Election held November--1st Tuesday after 1st Monday

-Plurality---winning the most votes

-majority---getting more than half of the votes

winner-take-all

-most popular votes (plurality) wins most elections

-majority of electoral votes determine the winner of the Presidency

Voting on Issues

-Initiatives

-method where citizens propose a bill through a petition and place it on the ballot for a general election vote

-Referendums

-method of public approval for a proposed bill where the legislature temporarily passes a bill until the public is given a chance to approve or disapprove the bill

Casting Your Vote

-must go to the polling place

-I.D. is checked against list of registered voters

-cast your vote pg 314-315

paper ballots still used in some states

lever machines click a lever next to your choice

punch cards often misread, “hanging chads”

computer upgrading to this in many states

-you may encounter an exit poll

Sample of voters leaving polling places and how they voted

Types of Votes

-Straight Ticket

-voting only for one political party

-Split Ticket

-voting for candidates from either party

-Absentee Ballot

Citizens who cannot get to the polls on election day

Ex: out of town, illness, military service, Peace Corps etc.

-Write-In Votes

Special Kinds of Elections

-Referendums- approve or reject a state or local law

referred-sent back to voters

-Initiatives- propose new laws or state constitutional amendments

-Recounts disputed election (close) can be resolved in this way

-Run-Offs vote again

-Recalls- citizens in some states can vote to remove a public official from office