Voting + Registration
These elections come before the General Election and are used by political parties to choose who will run for office.
Primaries
These are the two main political parties in the United States.
Democrat and Republican
This group makes federal laws and has two houses — the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Congress
This group officially decides who becomes President of the United States.
Electoral College
These organizations raise and spend money to support candidates or political causes they agree with.
PACs
This amendment says that a presidential candidate must choose a “running mate” for Vice President.
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To register to vote in Virginia, you must be __, ____, and ____
18, US citizen, resident of VA
One function of political parties is to find and choose people to run for office. What is this process called?
Recruiting and nominating candidates
In the U.S. Senate, each state is represented by how many Senators?
2
It takes this many Electoral votes to win the Presidency.
270
This 2010 Supreme Court case ruled that spending money in elections counts as a form of free speech.
Citizens United v FEC
This amendment lowered the voting age to 18.
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These trained observers monitor polling places on Election Day to help ensure elections are fair and run smoothly.
Poll watchers
The Democratic Party’s symbol is a blue donkey and it’s considered to be on which side of the political spectrum?
Liberal
How is the number of Representatives determined for the House of Reps?
Population
In this system, if a candidate wins the most votes in a state, they receive all of that state’s Electoral votes.
Winner-take-all
As a result of Citizens United, there are still limits on how much money can be given to candidates, but no limits on money spent to do this.
Spending AGAINST a candidate they want to lose
This amendment gave all men the right to vote, no matter their race.
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Name one common reason why some people fail to vote in elections.
.....
Federalists and Anti-Federalists mainly disagreed about what issue during the early history of political parties?
Power and size of federal government
What determines the number of Electoral votes each state gets?
Congressional Representation
Unlike most states, these two states can split their Electoral votes between candidates instead of giving them all to one.
Maine and Nebraska
One major effect of the Citizens United ruling is that these entities are legally considered “people” with the right to free speech.
Corporations
This amendment gave residents of Washington, D.C., the right to vote for President by granting them 3 electoral votes.
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This 1965 law eliminated literacy tests and other barriers that had kept many Americans from voting.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
These smaller political parties have never won a presidential election but often push major parties to adopt their ideas.
Third parties
If a new state was added to the US, what is the lowest number of Congressional representation that it would have?
3
These states, such as Florida and Michigan, are highly contested because they can vote for either major party in an election.
Swing State
This Supreme Court decision greatly increased the amount of money in politics by ruling that limiting independent political spending violated this constitutional right.
Freedom of speech
This amendment banned poll taxes, ensuring people don’t have to pay money to vote.
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