What are some of today s voting issues? Voter registration, voter ID, youth vote, and technology

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1 LESSON 6 What are some of today s voting issues? Voter registration, voter ID, youth vote, and technology Objective Standards Handouts Materials Backgrounders Examine various contemporary issues connected with voting including voter registration in Oregon, voter ID, the youth vote and technology. Civics and Government Core Standard 10. Examine the relationship between government and citizens to distinguish and evaluate the ways that civic participation occurs in local, state, tribal, national, and global communities Explain rights and responsibilities of citizens. HS.34. Explain the responsibilities of citizens (e.g., vote, pay taxes). (1) Voting FAQs; (2) The Social Campaign Oregon Voter registration form (online at Will gender influence the 2012 election?; Every Vote Counts; Voter ID Laws: Why Are They Controversial? A. Warm-up There are adults who don t vote. Ask, why do you think they don t vote? (Voter registration problems among others.) Lead conversation to discussion of why it is important to register to vote. B. What about registering to vote in Oregon? Distribute Handout 1, Voting FAQs. In pairs, review FAQs. Teacher may wish to divide the questions among students. Pairs report to group about what they learned or what was surprising. When discussing Question 6, Where do I find the forms?, ask students other places they might find voter registration forms. Answers may include public libraries, links from other websites, etc. C. Voter Registration Role Play and the Real Thing Prepare to role play voter registration by placing students in small groups. Ideally these will be groups of three with one student taking the role of the new voter and two students encouraging the person to register. Alternatively, the groups may be larger with additional students coaching or helping the registerers, and others being friends or family of the new voter. Each group is assigned one of the following four scenarios: new voter has just moved to Oregon from another state, new voter has just turned 17, new voter has just moved to a new apartment from across town, and new voter has just gotten married and changed his or her name. Distribute sample voter registration forms. In groups, discuss questions the new voter would ask and how they should be answered. Create your own FAQ or outline that will be turned in for teacher assessment at the end of the lesson. Decide roles. Two students role play approaching and encouraging the new voter to complete a voter registration card. LESSON 6 1

2 Perform the skits for the class. Ask students to highlight key facts they used and identify areas where they may need additional information. Register five new voters. Brainstorm who in your community is new or may not be registered to vote. Provide students with voter registration cards and a reflection form to summarize their discussions and efforts to register five new voters. Once registered, deliver to the county elections office or mail to the Secretary of State s office. D. What about the youth vote? Will the youth vote make a difference in 2012? Make a prediction of the percentage and defend your prediction with evidence. Online research. Below are several online resources that encourage youth to vote. Students will research these sites. List the questions students will answer during their research. Examples include: who is the website s audience?, what is its message?, is it persuasive?, and so on. This can be done individually, in small groups or as a whole class. Compare results. Youth vote website resources: 1. Kids Voting USA National non-profit organization devoted to getting young people involved in our democracy, 2. Our Time A non-partisan campaign to encourage 18-year-olds to register and vote. Information on candidates, voter registration, and news reports; celebrity video endorsements for voting. A CLP video fave on this website is one where Hollywood stars encourage voting (warning: contains profanity): 3. Rock the Vote The site engages youth in the political process by incorporating the entertainment community and youth culture into its activities. The site uses music, popular culture, new technologies and grassroots organizing to motivate and mobilize young people in our country to participate in every election, with the goal of seizing the power of the youth vote to create political and social change Youth vote see this excellent analysis of the youth vote 2008 by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement: FS_youth_Voting_2008_updated_6.22.pdf. The US Census Bureau also includes youth as well as all other voters: Discuss the BIG question: will the youth vote make a difference in this presidential election? Why or why not? Teachers: consider using Chalk Talk strategy (below) for this discussion. Chalk Talk provides a quiet balance to the website research. E. What role do technology and the internet play in voting? When does technology help voters and when does it get in the way? What will voting look like in 10 or 20 years? Chalk Talk. This is a dynamic thinking activity, includes the entire class, and involves little to no talking! Here is how it goes: 1. Teacher explains that Chalk Talk is a silent activity to encourage and integrate everyone s thinking. Students will be asked to come forward and add ideas in writing. Students connect with other students thinking by drawing lines to comments. LESSON 6 2

3 2. The teacher writes how has technology changed voting? in a circle on the board. Consider asking one half of the class to think about the pluses, and the other minuses. 3. Teacher provides chalk (or markers) for student use. 4. Students take turns writing thoughts or feelings connected to the question. The end product will look something like a lot of talking bubbles interconnected with lines. 5. The teacher serves as a facilitator and may add to the idea as appropriate to expand student thinking and interaction by: - writing questions about a comment - noting emerging themes - adding reflections or ideas - connecting two interesting ideas or thoughts 6. Teacher and students summarize by identifying significant themes, connections, or additional questions. For more detail on how to use the Chalk Talk and other strategies, see Distribute Handout 4, The Social Campaign. Review individually then share observations in pairs. Reflection by whole class. F. Extended Activities Homework / Journal/Weblog Entry Will gender influence the 2012 Election? See Backgrounder Will gender influence the 2012 election?, for a lesson where students study the history of women s suffrage and evaluate the issues for women in the election. Whose voice is heard? Or, whose voices are not heard? Why are they not heard and what difference does it make to voting as an expression of democracy? (See Voting History Whose Voice is Heard?, backgrounder Lesson 5, page 20.) See Every Vote Counts backgounder for one page of close election stories. See Voter ID Laws: Why Are They Controversial? backgrounder for a quick, one page look at the ID controversy. Create a bookmark to encourage and provide reasons for voting, or a bookmark that gives local election information of facts. Create a voter s guide to share with parents and use in other class activities. Investigate redistricting and the right to vote: Research how the "right to vote" is affected by congressional redistricting. Find out how your district is set up and how the 2010 Census has affected redistricting in your state by visiting Fair Vote. Take the "Redistricting Roulette" challenge. Find out how election results can be manipulated by how district lines are drawn. See: LESSON 6 3

4 For more information on voter turnout, see this study from George Mason University, See: Write an advice column on voting. Follow the important Oregon races other than the presidential contest, e.g. Bonamici vs. Morgan race for the United States House of Representatives: Conduct a voter registration drive at your school. National Voter Registration Day is September 25; find more information at nationalvoterregistrationday.org. PBS provides a lesson plan where students take a stand and analyze why they agree or disagree. See: A Race to Watch: Campaign 2012, the Role of Technology and the Internet: t.html LESSON 6 4

5 Handout 1 Voting FAQs 1. What are the requirements to register to vote in Oregon? 2. It s the day before Election Day and I am ready to register. Can I? 3. When should I update my voter registration? 4. Must I select a political party when I register? 5. How do I actually register? 6. Where do I find the forms? 7. Can I vote when I go away to college? 8. I know people with felony records. Can they vote? 9. What are voter registration laws like in other states? 10. My one little vote doesn t count for much. Why should I bother? What are the requirements to register to vote in Oregon? A. There are three requirements: 1. You must be 17 in order to register to vote once you turn You must be a US citizen. OR does not require proof of citizenship like some states. 3. You must be a resident of Oregon. This requires that you show a driver s license or ID issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, or provide the last 4 digits of your social security number, or provide a utility bill, paycheck stub, bank statement or government document. 2. It s the day before Election Day and I am ready to register. Can I? A. Well, yes, you can register but you won t be able to vote the next day. In Oregon, you must register at least 21 days before Election Day. 3. When should I update my voter registration? A. The most common time to update is if you change your home or mailing address. You should also update if you change your name or want to change or select a political party. 4. Must I select a political party when I register? A. No. When you register you will be given many party choices including not a member of a party. Your selection will determine what ballot you get for the primary elections. 5. How do I actually register? A. You can register using a paper form or you can register online. 6. Where do I find the forms? A. Voter registration forms may be found in many places. Here are a few: DMV offices (paper), any county elections office (paper), Oregon Secretary of State, Elections Division (paper and online, oregonvotes.gov) and League of Women Voter s online resource: Vote411.org (paper). 7. Can I vote when I go away to college? A. Absolutely! Two things you should keep in mind: (1) when two addresses are involved (home and school), you can be registered to vote at only one of them and that address determines which ballot you will get; and (2) Oregon is a vote by mail state and the ballots are mailed about three weeks before Election Day. So, you have choices. If you are already registered at home LESSON 6 5

6 and want to vote using that ballot, you can go home to vote or have your parents or guardian mail your ballot to you, or you can officially request (oregonvotes.gov) that the ballot be delivered at school. Or, you can change your address so you get the school-area ballot. If you are going to college in a different state and want to become an official resident there, then you should register in the new state according to its laws. When you register in a new state, be sure to answer the part about previous registration so it can notify Oregon (and Oregon will cancel your registration). Bottom line, go to oregonvotes.gov and it will walk you through whatever steps are needed. 8. I know people with felony records. Can they vote? A. Yes. Oregon is one of 13 states that restores voting privileges after incarceration. A person cannot vote, however, if currently serving a jail or prison sentence for a felony conviction. 9. What are voter registration laws like in other states? A. Fourteen states have voter ID laws where voters must show official ID when they go to their local polling place to cast their ballot on election day. This has created problems for voters who lack an ID and have difficulty assembling the necessary documentation (see Voter ID Laws: Why Are They Controversial? handout). This is not a factor in Oregon because we vote by mail. Below are a few examples of registration requirements in other states: 1. California: Must be a US citizen, resident of California, and 18 by the next election. Deadline to register is 15 days before election. 2. Washington: Must be a US citizen, resident of Washington, and 18 by Election Day. Deadline to register is 4 weeks before the election (or delivered in-person to the local voter registration office 7 days before the election). 3. Idaho: Must be a US citizen, resident of Idaho and in the county for 30 days, and 18 by Election Day. May register on Election Day with proper ID and proof of residence. 4. Montana: Must be a US citizen, resident of Montana for at least 30 days, and 18 before the next election. Deadline to register is 30 days before any election; late registration is available through Election Day. Proper ID and proof of residency is required. 5. Nevada: Must be a US citizen, resident of Nevada for at least 30 days and the precinct for at least 10 days before the election, and 18 or older before the next election. You cannot have a permanent residence in any other place (relevant to college students). Registration deadline is 30 days before the election. 6. Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia: you can register on Election Day! Connecticut will allow same day registration next year, and North Carolina allows registration up to 3 days before election. 7. Hawaii: May pre-register to vote at 16, but must be18 by Election Day and a resident of Hawaii to vote. 8. North Dakota has no voter registration requirements. 10. My one little vote doesn t count for much. Why should I bother? The Oregon Bus Project estimates that by 2015 the Millennial Generation will represent onethird of all eligible voters in the U.S. Ever wonder why health care gets so much air time? Because the elderly vote and the elderly care dearly about health care. Want education (environment, jobs, you fill in the blank) to have a higher profile? Then vote. The power of the Millennial voice your voice in influencing and potentially controlling the decisions is just waiting for year olds to act. As for one little vote not counting for much, wrong. Oregon s own Secretary of State Kate Brown won her first election by just seven votes (see Every Vote Counts! Handout). Your vote matters. LESSON 6 6

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10 Backgrounder Will gender influence the 2012 election? Students will study the history of women s suffrage and evaluate the issues for women in the 2012 election. Definition of gender: the condition of being female or male; sex. Definition suffrage: a. The right or privilege of voting; franchise. b. The exercise of such a right. Guiding Question One: What is women s suffrage? And, when did women get the right to vote? (For background on the women s suffrage movement, see Living the Legacy: the Women s Rights Movement , available at See also Century of Action, Oregon Women Vote , Teaching strategy: After reading aloud the statement and list of facts below, ask students what they remember from the list (what resonated with them?). Women working for suffrage in 1848 declared, "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world," and went on to specify: Married women were legally dead in the eyes of the law; Women were not allowed to vote; Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation; Married women had no property rights; Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity; Divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women; Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes; Most occupations were closed to women and when women did work they were paid only a fraction of what men earned; Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law; Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university would accept women students; With only a few exceptions, women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church; Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were made totally dependent on men. 1 Guiding Question Two: Which amendment to the Constitution gives women the right to vote? 1 The Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls Conference, 1848; from Elizabeth Cady Stanton, A History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 1 (Rochester, N.Y.: Fowler and Wells, 1889), pages LESSON 6 10

11 Teaching strategy: Return to complaints listed above. How did the right to vote change women s lives? How did the 19 th Amendment change the way we look at elections? U.S. Constitution Amendment 19. (Giving nationwide suffrage to women; passed by Congress June 4, Ratified August 18, 1920.): 1. 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. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Guiding Question Three: What attitudes about women are expressed in the media of today? Teaching Strategy: To gauge attitudes about women today, students create form(s) for analyzing one or several of the following: sitcoms on network television; newspaper cartoons; television, print, or online advertisements; articles in women's and/or girls' magazines; and public opinion in the local community. Source: Women s Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs Attitudes Today Guiding Question Four: Do women voters have the potential to decide the outcome of the 2012 election? Teaching Strategy: Read the Excerpts from News Sources about the women s vote at the end of this handout. In pairs, one student takes the position that women voters will not make a major difference in the 2012 election and the other takes the position that women voters will make a major difference in the 2012 election. Switch; then decide informally with which side you agree. Additional activities or areas of research: Using recognized polling sites such as Gallup, follow the attitudes and impact of women voters in this election. Create buttons or bumper stickers reflecting the historical and current status of women. Research women who have made a difference at the National Women s History Project, For an excellent lesson using documents about woman and equality, see, Women s Equality: Changing Attitudes and Beliefs, Title IX and court cases. Title IX is an act of Congress that is both praised for fostering the progress of women's athletics and condemned as reverse discrimination and the death knell to many collegiate athletic programs. Using EDSITEment and Oyez Project: A Supreme Court Multimedia Database, students can explore the historical and legal contexts of the debate over Title IX. Key Title IX cases include: Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999), NCAA v. Smith (1999); Gebser v. Lago Vista Ind. School Dist. (1998); and Grove City College v. Bell (1984). Note that of the 46 gold medals won by the US in LESSON 6 11

12 the 2012 Olympics, 29 were by women. LESSON 6 12

13 Women and the 2012 Election Excerpts from News Sources According to the Reuters Center for American Women and Politics, every presidential election since 1980 has seen the number of female voters surpass that of males by between four to seven million votes. In every election prior to 1980, men were the ones to cast the majority of votes. Source: Married women are more likely to register and to vote than unmarried women. However, unmarried women are narrowing the gap, registering to vote and voting in increasing numbers. Source: Politicians who want to win the women s vote should take a lesson from consumer marketing. In that arena, women use blogs, social media platforms and web site comment spaces to influence each other s purchasing decisions. They will use the same communication tools to affect the 2012 presidential election. Source: A record 294 women have filed papers to run for the U.S. House this year and shattered the previous high mark for female candidates set in An additional four women are also expected to run. A record 1,078 women have won the primaries for state legislative seats in the 2012 cycle so far. Sources: 12.pdf, Women are significantly under-represented in 2012 election coverage in major media outlets. In our analysis of news stories and transcripts from the past 6 months, men are much more likely to be quoted on their subjective insight in newspapers and on television. This pattern holds true across all major news outlets, as well as on issues specifically concerning women. Source: [Election experts agree that wins in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are needed to win the race for president. These battleground states] show most women say they prefer Mr. Obama. About half of female voters in Florida back him, while his support is even stronger in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where nearly 6 in 10 women say they favor him. In Ohio, men prefer Mr. Romney, while they are more closely split in Florida and Pennsylvania. Source: LESSON 6 13

14 Backgrounder Every Vote Counts Following are a few examples of very close elections in which each vote made a difference. Most examples of winning by one vote occur in local races, thus, emphasizing the importance of being aware, involved and informed about what is happening in your own community Massachusetts gubernatorial election: Marcus Landslide Morton was elected governor of Massachusetts by one vote. Of the 102,066 votes cast, he received 51,034. Had his count been 51,033, the election would have been thrown into the Legislature, where he probably would not have won. Landslide also made the record books in 1842 when he won the same office again by one vote, this time in the Legislature. ( U.S. presidential election: The race between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine came down to New York. Cleveland defeated Blaine by a margin of less than 1% of the vote, won New York's 36 electors and the presidential seat. This was the first time in six elections that a Democrat had defeated a Republican Texas Democratic senatorial primary: Lyndon B. Johnson won his senatorial campaign by only 87 votes, despite suspicion about 200 mystery votes from one precinct. He later went on to become president! 1974 New Hampshire US Senate election: The race was between Democrat John Durkin and Republican Louis Wyman. Wyman was an experienced politician and many expected him to win by a huge margin. On Election Day, however, he won by only 355 votes. Then, after the first recount, it turns out Durkin had won by ten votes. Yet another recount was done and it turned out Wyman won by only two votes. The two candidates started a heated legal battle over the results, and eventually decided to have a totally new election. The new election was held on September 16, A record-breaking turnout gave the election to Durkin by a 27,000-vote margin Democratic Primary for Oregon House of Representatives, District 13: Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown had her own close call. When she ran in her first primary election for the Democratic nomination for Oregon House of Representatives in 1992, Kate won by just seven votes Washington gubernatorial election: One of the closest political races in United States election history, Republican Dino Rossi was declared the winner in the initial automated count and again in the subsequent automated recount. It wasn't until after the third count, done by hand, that Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, took the lead by a margin of 129 votes. LESSON 6 13

15 Backgrounder Voter ID Laws: Why Are They Controversial? Voter ID laws refer to those states where voters must show official ID when they go to their local polling place to cast their ballot on election day. This makes sense. After all, we want voters who are who they say they are to be casting their ballots. Viviette Applewhite has a problem with that. Mrs. Applewhite is 93 and lives in Pennsylvania, a state with a voter ID law. 1 Her purse was stolen a while back and with it all her identification. According to Pennysvania s rules much like those in other voter ID states in order for Mrs. Applewhite to get an ID, she needed to present an official birth certificate and other documents. It gets complicated because her birth name does not match her current name; she was born in another state; and was adopted. She found it impossible to get all the necessary documents to prove who she is. And even if she did have all the documents, she has to take two different buses to get to the nearest PennDOT (state motor vehicles) office and wait in line in her wheelchair to get it. This does not make sense. Mrs. Applewhite is one of 14 plaintiffs in a case filed against the state of Pennsylvania asking that the courts find the voter ID law unconstitutional. On August 15, 2012, the trial court judge ruled in favor of the state of Pennsylvania; and on August 16, Mrs. Applewhite s lawyers filed an appeal. On the same day, Mrs. Applewhite set out again to get a state-issued ID. During the civil rights era of the 1960 s, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed by Congress. This was a response to states having laws that effectively restricted minorities ability to vote. Poll taxes and Jim Crow laws meant that many African Americans mostly in Southern states could not vote. Some say that today s voter ID laws are the current day equivalent of poll taxes. Mrs. Applewhite and the other plaintiffs believe that the Pennsylvania law places burdens on their right to vote and that burden is not spread out equally among all voters. Supporters of voter ID laws point to the need to prevent voter fraud. To overcome the poll tax effect, Pennsylvania s ID s are free and, when birth certificates are difficult to get, it has a system in place to address it. ID supporters say the inconveniences are reasonable given the stakes, and that the number of those affected is inflated by groups like Mrs. Applewhite s lawyers. All the lawyers in the Pennsylvania case plaintiff and defendant alike acknowledge that voter fraud has not, in fact, been a problem. Mrs. Applewhite went home happy as a clam on August 16. In spite of not having the proper documentation, the PennDOT clerk issued an ID after all. 1 Pennsylvania is one of 14 states with voter ID laws. Oregon, a vote by mail state, is not one of them. LESSON 6 14