Elections 101: Activities Review the basic information about the Electoral College from the lesson listed below. Then try the activities for more learning. The Federal Election Commission http://www.fec.gov/pages/ecworks.htm Understanding the Electoral College by Cara Anaam http://www.nelrc.org/changeagent/selectedArticles/article2vol18.htm Activity 1 NARA Electoral College Calculator US National Archives and Records Administration http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/calculator.html Try predicting who will win the next presidential election. Create your own results by clicking on a different button in one of three columns, Democrat (D), Republican (R), and Third Party (O). After you have made your selections, click "Tally" to see the new results, then click "Reset” try again! Activity 2 Be a Campaign Strategist This activity lets students act as campaign strategists and design plans of attack for accumulating the 270 votes needed to win the presidency. Use these Web resources to help you make your decisions. 2000 Electoral Results by State http://www.c-span.org/classroom/govt/electoral1.asp
4b03d8dd-a623-48aa-a7d0-14e4b403322e.doc Northern Berkshire ABE http://abeged.com
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Election 2004 Project Thelma Margulies/Carole Blair
2000 Electoral Results in descending order http://www.c-span.org/classroom/govt/electoral2.asp Interactive Electoral Map http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/politics101/politics101_ecmap.html Electoral Votes Calculator http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/calculator.html Use the electoral vote tallies from the 2000 presidential election to predict possible electoral votes for 2004. 1. Win 270 electoral votes without winning California, Texas, or New York. 2. Win 270 electoral votes by winning only states that have 12 or more electoral votes. 3. Can the presidency be won by only winning states that are east of the Mississippi river? How many electoral votes do those states equal? 4. What is the most efficient way to reach 270 electoral votes? (i.e. list the fewest states that equal 270 electoral votes.) 5. Make your own predictions about which states will vote Democratic or Republican in 2004. Are there any states that you would classify as "swing" states? If so, list each state. Source: http://www.c-span.org/classroom/2004vote/strategy.asp
Activity 3 C-SPAN Interactive Quizzes C-SPAN The 2004 Race Quiz
4b03d8dd-a623-48aa-a7d0-14e4b403322e.doc Northern Berkshire ABE http://abeged.com
C-SPAN The Voting Process Quiz
Election 2004 Project Thelma Margulies/Carole Blair
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