VOTING!YOUR RIGHT,

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

WHY IS OUR RIGHT TO VOTE IMPORTANT?

IN 1948 FOLLOWING WORLD WAR II, THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTED THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TO COMBAT OPPRESSION AND DISCRIMINATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THIS WAS THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION THAT HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS ARE RIGHTS OF ALL PEOPLE IN ALL COUNTRIES. THIS DECLARATIONHAS BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE CONSTITUTIONS AND LAWS OF MANY COUNTRIES WITH DIFFERENT POLITICAL SYSTEMS, RELIGIONS AND CULTURES AS WELL AS STAGES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTSArticle 21 Paraphrased

Every citizen has the right to participate in the government of his country. They may do this directly or by choosing representatives who will do this for them.

The consent of the governed shall be the source of governmental authority, and this consent shall be expressed in genuine secret vote or equivalent elections

where universal and equal right to vote is allowed.

SEE http://www.un.org/rights/HRToday/declar.htm

HISTORY OF FREE ELECTIONS

Elections have been held since the Greek city-states and republican Rome. Early Athens is generally regarded as the first direct democracy.

The world’s first elected representative government was established with the signing of the Magna Carta in England in the year 1215. Parliament there eventually became the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

In the modern world, the United States was one of the earliest democracies. We have a long history of holding general elections for both the executive and legislative branches of government, though for many years the right to vote was limited.

WHAT IS A DEMOCRACY?

The term “democracy” was first used in ancient Greece to mean a government where people could share in the activities of the state, as opposed to governments controlled by an individual, a class or a group.

Today the term has evolved to mean the idea that the governed have the right and the capacity, either directly or by choosing representatives, to control their institutions for their own purposes. Great value is placed on individual equality and freedom for citizens from restraints except those which adhere to the principle of equality and are imposed solely by the consent of the majority.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND DEMOCRACY

Because England was so far away, the original colonies formed legislatures which could make laws, impose taxes, and form armies. Eventually these powers became rights in the eyes of many, so when the British began to limit them, trouble arose.

Events such as the Quartering Act, requiring the colonists to house and feed British soldiers, the Stamp Act requiring a tax stamp on many goods and documents, and the Tea Act giving the British East India Company a monopoly to trade tea in the colonies, caused colonists to feel their rights were being taken away by the British. Eventually war ensued and independence was won.

Many revolutionary leaders had studied the writings of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and others, so our founders were aware of the concepts of the social contract, limited government, the consent of the governed, and separation of powers. The government they established in the newly independent nation was based on these values.

25,000 died in the American Revolution so that we couldhave the freedoms of democracy. Since then wars foughtin support of democracy and the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights have claimed countless lives.

EVEN IN THE 21ST CENTURY, FEWER THAN HALF THE WORLD’S

COUNTRIES ARE TOTALLY FREE!*PERCENTAGE OF 195 WORLD COUNTRIES

WITH DEMOCRACIES In 2011

Totally FreePartly FreeNot Free41%

60 countries

45% 85

countries

28%48 countries

Electoral Democracies

Not Electorial Democracies

40%78 COUN-

TRIES

60%117

COUNTRIES

ONLY 60% OF THE WORLD’S COUNTRIES HAVE ELECTORAL DEMOCRACIES

* www.freedomhouse.orgFreedom in the World, Freedom House’s flagship publication, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of

global political rights and civil liberties. Published annually since 1972, the survey ratings and narrative reports on 195 countries and 14 related and disputed territories are used by policymakers, the media, international

corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders to monitor trends in democracy and track improvements and setbacks in freedom worldwide. The Freedom in the World data and reports are available in their entirety on

the Freedom House website.

TODAY MORE THAN TWO BILLION OF THE WORLD’S SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE

LIVE UNDER OPPRESSIVE RULE.

“We’ve been through a multiyear period in which the world’s authoritarians seemed to be on the march and the democracies appeared to be in retreat,”

said David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House. “But the past year’s trends (the political uprisings that have swept the Arab world over the past year) give reason for hope—especially because they arose in a region of the

world where many observers dismissed the idea of democratic change as futile. We are at a historic moment, and it is imperative that the United

States be fully involved in the difficult process of democracy building that lies ahead.”*

MANY THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE DIED AND MANY ARE DYING, EVEN TODAY, FOR THE FREEDOM FOR THEMSELVES OR

FOR OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR GOVERNMENT.

IT IS EASY TO TAKE THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR GRANTED, TO BECOME TOO BUSY OR TOO UNINTERESTED TO PARTICIPATE IN

THE ELECTION OF OUR COUNTRY’S LEADERS.

NO MATTER HOW ONE VOTES OR HOW CLOSE THE ELECTION,

ONE VOTE DOES COUNT!EVERY VOTER WHO DOES NOT VOTE DECREASES THE PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION THAT ACTUALLY ELECTS A NATION’S LEADERS, MAKING THE VOICE OF THOSE WHO DO VOTE EVEN MORE POWERFUL.

IN THE PAST THREE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ONLY ABOUT HALF THE ELIGIBLE VOTERS ACTUALLY VOTED FOR OUR NATION’S PRESIDENT. AN EVEN SMALLER PERCENTAGE HAVE VOTED IN THE MID-TERM ELECTIONS WHEN STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATORS ARE CHOSEN.

WHAT IF THOSE WHO DO VOTE DO NOT VALUE DEMOCRACY? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD LOSE IT? COULD THE PEOPLE OF OUR COUNTRY BECOME A PART OF THE WORLD’S OPPRESSED POPULATION?

BUT HAVING THE RIGHT TO VOTE COMES WITH A BIG RESPONSIBILITY!

THAT RESPONSIBILITY IS WISELYDECIDING HOW TO CAST ONE’S VOTE.

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DECIDE HOW TO VOTE.

SOME ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS.

First N

ame on the

List

Candidate’s Voting Record

Candidate’s

Appearance

Candidate’s Charisma

What Relatives

Think

Candidate’s Party

A VOTER’S RESPONSIBILITY IS TO CAST A WISE VOTE!

• IN ORDER FOR THEIR VOTE TO INSURE THE PRESERVATION OF DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM, VOTERS HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO EDUCATE THEMSELVES ABOUT DEMOCRACY AND TO EXAMINE THE CANDIDATES AND THE ISSUES CAREFULLY.

• IN TODAY’S INFORMATION AGE, THIS IS VERY EASY TO DO. BUT IT REQUIRES THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO FIND THE INFORMATION AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO EVALUATE THE INFORMATION FOUND.

Do Not Take Democracy and Your Right to Participate In It for Granted! All Citizens

Have A Responsibility to Protect It!

FINDING AND EVALUATING

INFORMATION

Do Not Take for Granted Democracy and Your Right to Participate in It! All Have a Responsibility to Protect

It!

THERE ARE MANY SOURCES OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO VOTERS.

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ADSPOLITICAL PARTY PLATFORMS

NEWS MEDIA (NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES,JOURNALS, WEBSITES)SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK, TWITTER)

FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS & FAMILYTHE INTERNETLOCAL LIBRARY

OTHERS

HOW CAN ONE KNOW WHICH TO BELIEVE?

CONSIDER THE BIAS OF THE SOURCE. “BIAS” IS A PARTICULAR TENDENCY OR INCLINATION, ESPECIALLY ONE THAT PREVENTS UNPREJUDICED CONSIDERATION OF A QUESTION. BIAS CAUSES INTENTIONAL OR

UNINTENTIONAL FOCUSING ON INFORMATION FAVORABLE TO ONE’S PERSPECTIVE AND OMITTING THAT WHICH IS UNFAVORABLE. WHICH OF

THESE MIGHT BE BIASED? WHICH HAVE SOMETHING TO GAIN OR LOSE BY YOUR BELIEVING THE INFORMATION? WHICH HAS ACCESS TO

INFORMATION THAT MIGHT BE MORE RELIABLE.

USE MULTIPLE SOURCES FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND CHOOSE THOSE

SOURCES WELL.

• POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ADS LISTEN TO BOTH SIDES, INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS AND CLAIMS FOR YOURSELF

• POLITICAL PARTY PLATFORMS READ FOR ALL PARTIES• NEWS MEDIA SUCH AS NEWSPAPERS, NEWS MAGAZINES AND

JOURNALS, NEWS WEBSITES USE SEVERAL DIFFERENT ONES• SOCIAL MEDIA CONSIDER WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE PERSON

POSTING, THEIR BIAS, WHERE THEY GOT THE INFORMATION• FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS & FAMILY WHAT ARE THEIR

QUALIFICATIONS, HOW DID THEY GET THEIR INFORMATION• THE INTERNET CHECK MULTIPLE SITES PRIMARILY NONPARTISAN• LOCAL LIBRARY BOTH WEBSITE AND PHYSICAL LOCATION• OTHER SUCH AS A CANDIDATE’S HISTORY PREVIOUS VOTING

RECORDS, JOBS, ETC. BUT MAKE SURE TO GET THE FACTS

JUDGING THE RELIABILITY OF A SOURCE OF INFORMATION

CONSIDER WHETHER THE SOURCE HAS ANYTHING TO GAIN OR LOSE? (THE SOURCE OF FUNDING, FOUND USUALLY UNDER “ABOUT US” ON A WEBSITE, IS IMPORTANT IN DETERMINING

THIS.)

Political campaign ads, for example, are paid for by the candidate and thus will probably give only information

favorable to the candidate and probably not give all the facts regarding any claim or allegation. Check out the real facts

(more about that later).

Social media such as Facebook friends and blogs are often biased. It is usually easy to tell they are promoting one candidate or another. Look

for things such as all favorable comments for one candidate and all unfavorable comments for others. The old saying that “no one is all bad or all good” really is true. Only by knowing the facts on both sides of

an issue can one make an informed decision about any issue.

LOOK AT THE PAST. DOES THE SOURCE HAVE A HISTORY OF FAVORING ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER?

GENERALLY TRUSTED SOURCES OF INFORMATION MAY CONTAIN INACCURACIES

NewspapersNews Magazines

Television News Programs

TO TELL IF THEIR INFO IS RELIABLE:• Determine whether the information is fact or opinion.

Check the facts for accuracy. Understand that opinions are only one person’s ideas and may or may not be true.

• Look for obvious bias as discussed earlier.

• Get your information from multiple sources. Before you believe it, see what other sources say.

• Learn about news media using sites such as the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. at journalism.org.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT ARE USUALLY THE MOST RELIABLE AND

ACCURATE

• PEER-REVIEWED SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS

• EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS’ PUBLICATIONS

• PROJECT VOTE SMART • OTHER NON-PARTISAN, NONPROFIT

ORGANIZATIONS FUNDED ENTIRELY BY INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS

• C-SPAN, C-SPAN 1, C-SPAN 2 AND C-SPAN RADIO

PEER-REVIEWED SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS

WHEN AN ARTICLE IS SUBMITTED TO A PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL, IT IS REVIEWED BY OTHER SCHOLARS IN THE SAME FIELD FOR QUALITY OF SCHOLARSHIP, RELEVANCE, APPROPRIATENESS FOR THE JOURNAL, ETC. PUBLICATIONS THAT DON'T USE PEER

REVIEW RELY FOR ACCURACY ON THE JUDGMENTS OF THEIR EDITORS WHO MAY NOT HAVE KNOWLEDGE IN THE PARTICULAR FIELD.

EXAMPLES OF PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS ARE

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCEAMERICAN POLITICS QUARTERLYAMERICAN POLITICS RESEARCH

THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLITICS, CULTURE, AND SOCIETYAMERICAN JOURNALISM REVIEW

POLICY REVIEWHARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

THE LIST OF PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS AS WELL AS THEIR SUBJECT MATTERS IS VAST. VISIT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY TO ACCESS THESE, OR IF YOU HAVE A

LIBRARY CARD, ACCESS THEM THROUGH THEIR WEBSITE DATABASES.

EXAMPLES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS’ PUBLICATIONS

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND THEORY UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLICATIONSHTTP://WWW.DUKEUPRESS.EDU

HARVARD’S JOHN F KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONSHTTP://WEB.HKS.HARVARD.EDU/PUBLICATIONS

FOR MORE, SEE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PRESSES MEMBER LIST AT HTTP://WWW.AAUPNET.ORG

ACCESS THESE AND MANY OTHERS AT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY, THE LIBRARY’S WEBSITE (LOOK FOR DATABASES) OR THE WEBSITES OF THE INDIVIDUAL INSTITUTIONS.

PROJECT VOTE SMART

PROJECT VOTE SMART IS A WEBSITE THAT CAN BE FOUND AT VOTESMART.ORG. IT IS

• non-partisan, nonprofit • funded exclusively through individual contributions and philanthropic foundations.• composed of biographies, voting records, issue

positions, ratings, speeches, campaign finance information for all

candidates for all offices.

ONE PAGE ON THIS SITE, CALLED “VOTE EASY” FOUND AT HTTP://VOTESMART.ORG/VOTEEASY/, ALLOWS ONE TO CHOOSE HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT PARTICULAR ISSUES AND COMPARE THAT TO EACH CANDIDATE.

NON-PARTISAN, NONPROFIT WEBSITES FUNDED ENTIRELY BY INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATIONS

• VOTESMART.ORG (HTTP://VOTESMART.ORG/)

• FACTCHECK.ORG (HTTP://WWW.FACTCHECK.ORG/)

• SMARTVOTER.ORG (HTTP://WWW.SMARTVOTER.ORG/)

• POLITIFACT.ORG

(HTTP://WWW.POLITIFACT.COM/TRUTH-O-METER//)

• OPENSECRETS.ORG

(HTTP://WWW.OPENSECRETS.ORG/INDEX.PHP/)

• MAPLIGHT.ORG(HTTP://MAPLIGHT.ORG//)

• VOTE411.ORG (HTTP://WWW.VOTE411.ORG/)

• PUBLICAGENDA.ORG (PUBLICAGENDA.ORG)

• GOVTRACK.US (HTTP://WWW.GOVTRACK.US/)

• POLITICAL PARTY WEBSITES

• CANDIDATES’ WEBSITES

• YOUR STATE’S DEPT. OF STATE WEBSITE (TENNESSEE’S CAN BE FOUND

AT HTTP://WWW.TN.GOV/SOS/ELECTION/INDEX.HTM)

C-SPANC-SPAN IS AN ACRONYM FOR CABLE-SATELLITE PUBLIC AFFAIRS

NETWORK. C-SPAN IS A PRIVATE COMPANY FUNDED BY FEES PAID BY CABLE AND SATELLITE AFFILIATES WHO CARRY S-SPAN

PROGRAMMING.

WEBSITEHTTP://WWW.C-SPAN.ORG/CAMPAIGN2012/

TV & RADIO (CHECK YOUR PROVIDER CHANNEL LISTINGS)C-SPAN

C-SPAN 2C-SPAN 3

C-SPAN RADIO

FINDING ACCURATE INFORMATION TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. IS IT

WORTH IT?

IT IS SAID THAT EARLY IN OUR HISTORY, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

WAS ASKED, "... WHAT FORM OF GOVERNMENT DO WE HAVE?"

TO WHICH FRANKLIN RESPONDED, "A REPUBLIC IF YOU CAN

KEEP IT."

JOHN JAY, FIRST JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT, SAID, "LET

VIRTUE, HONOR, THE LOVE OF LIBERTY ... BE ... THE SOUL OF

THIS CONSTITUTION, AND IT WILL BECOME THE SOURCE OF

GREAT AND EXTENSIVE HAPPINESS TO THIS AND FUTURE

GENERATIONS. VICE, IGNORANCE, AND WANT OF VIGILANCE,

WILL BE THE ONLY ENEMIES ABLE TO DESTROY IT”

Do Not Take for Granted Democracy and Your Right to Participate in It! All Have a Responsibility to Protect

It!

FINDING ACCURATE INFORMATION TAKES TIME AND EFFORT.

IS IT WORTH IT?YOU DECIDE EACH TIME AN ELECTION IS

HELD!

THIS PRESENTATION WAS DEVELOPED BY

Donna MeltonTHE VIEWS PRESENTED ARE SOLELY DEVELOPER’S AND DO NOT REFLECT THOSE OF ANY OTHER

PERSON OR ORGANIZATION.

THE FACTS ARE DEEMED TO BE ACCURATE BUT ARE NOT GUARANTEED. THE VIEWER IS URGED TO

VERIFY.