Voting is my right and privilege

I choose you Mr./Ms. President

Who can vote • Men and women of any race who are 18 yrs of age • Anyone who is a legal citizen of the United States • Anyone who is a legal citizen in the state in which he

or she lives.• Not someone who has committed a serious crime or

felony can vote.

The importance of voting

• The United States is a democracy and republic.• Voting means – Liberty of opinion – Liberty to choose – Liberty to be involved

Path to Universal Suffrage • Voting has come a long way

– 1776- Only people who are white land owning males over the age of 21.

– 1856 -All white men owning property or not are allowed to vote – 1870 -15th amendment is created stating Voting cannot be denied

because of race. – 1920- 19th amendment is created giving women the right the vote – 1964- 24th amendment made it illegal to tax to people in order for

them to vote – 1965- Voting Rights Act said people did not have to take a reading test

in order to vote. It also said that ballots can be printed in other languages .

– 1971 – 26th Amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

I want to be president • To be president according to the constitution you must be

1. A natural born citizen of the United States2. Lived in the US for 14yrs or more 3. 35 years of age the day of inauguration

Theodore Roosevelt 26th President 4 terms in office Youngest president

John F. Kennedy 35th President Part of 1 term –assassinatedYoungest elected president

Presidential duties • Presidents are elected for terms of four years• The max number of four year terms a president can have is two• Pick judges of the supreme court • In charge of the armed forces • Suggest laws, signs laws and veto's laws • Be diplomatic with other countries leaders

How do you become President

President Barack Obama Senator Mitt Romney

Picking a political party • The political party you pick supports beliefs and morals you believe in as

well.

• Republicans – elephants • Are conservative• Traditional life styles• Everyone makes their own

success• Everyone pays and equal

amount in taxes• Limited government

programs • Noninvolvement of

federal government in state government

•Democrat- donkey• Liberal • Believe in change and

not afraid of moving from the traditional

• Want more government programs to promote equality in financial standing

• Pay taxes equal to your pay scale

How do you become President

President Barack Obama • Democrat• Donkey

Senator Mitt Romney • Republican • Elephant

The Primaries • Once candidates decide they want to run for president and for which

party they need to campaign.

• The citizens are giving a list of people who want to be president for each party.

• This list needs to be made smaller so there is a something called the primary election.

• People vote for who they want to run for president from each political party. You decide to vote either democrat or republican. Then vote for one democrat or republican who you want to run for president.

• In the end you end up with a candidate for each group trying to be president

The Primary election resultsmeet the 2012 contestants for the

Presidential seat

VS

President Barack Obama

Senator Mitt Romney

Running MateVice Presidents to be

Joe Biden – Democrat Paul Ryan – Republican

Campaigning

• When you decide to be president you must campaign.

• Campaigning is a way for a president to tell the people of America their opinion on certain issue and their plans for the country.

Let’s talk about the issues

Debating

• While on the campaign trail candidates for president and vice president take part in debates over the issues.

The people speak

• After all the debating and campaigning it is time to vote (November 6, 2012)

• People register to vote in the state where they live and in the mail will receive a voter registration card.

• There are two ways in which people can vote – Paper voting – Electronic voting

Time for college

• Next is the job of the Electoral College• When we the people vote is called the popular

vote.– This vote basically just shows which candidate is

the most popular with the people • The real deciding votes of the president are

the electoral college votes.

How the Electoral College works • Each state has a certain number of electoral votes. The more people that

live in your state-the more electoral votes your state gets. In 48 of the states, the candidate that gets the most votes gets all the electoral votes for that state. The first candidate to win 270 electoral votes becomes the President!

Candidate # of states

ElectoralVotes

%Vote

PopularVote

McCain 22 173 46% 58,343,671

Obama 28 365 53% 66,882,230

Inauguration • On January 20, the President is sworn in, in Washington, D.C. He recites an

oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

• After the inauguration, the President nominates people for the jobs he or she wants them to be in charge of in the different departments of the federal government. The heads of the departments of the federal government make up the President's cabinet. There are many jobs to be filled and they are all important. The Senate must approve each nominee. Click here to see a chart that tells what each cabinet member is responsible for.

Home is where the work is • The new President and his family move into the White House, at 1600

Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. That's when the hard work really starts. They will live there and work there for the next four years.