An election can be in many different forms. It can be for school officers, city council, state representatives, but the biggest election in the U.S. is the Presidential Election.
School Officers: school officers are voted by the peers at one's shool. You see school officers mainly in Middle and High schools. You will see a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. A couple of students run and the results come from the other students at the school.
City Council: a mayor is the person to be elected in most city councils. The mayor serves as chairman for that city. The Council votes on the mayor. In larger cities, councils may elect a Council President and speaker.
State Representatives: state representatives are elected by the state. A representaive of a state performs the powers of the state just as the Congress performs for Federal duties.
Presidential: a president is elected by the entire U.S. nation. A new president is elected every four years. A president can also run for another term after his/her first term is over. This election is the biggest known election in the U.S. Everybody who registers to vote can vote for the President.
Democrats v. Republicans:
Democrats a political form of government in which governing power is derived from the people. Democrats are represented my the Donkey. In a Presidential election democrats mainly vote for the person running for president who is also democratic.
Republicans a political form of government that reflects American conservatism in the political spectrum. Republicans are represented by an elephant. In a Presidential election republicans mainly vote for the person running for president who is a republican.
Court Cases:
There are several court cases dealing with elections(or voting). The first ever women righting vote court case in the Supreme Court was Minor v. Happersett. In this case, Virginia Minor, a leader of the women's suffrage movement, in Missouri, argued with a Missouri registrar that the Fourteenth Amendment gave her th right to vote and to be in the election. The Missouri law said, "Every male citizen of the United States shall be entitled to vote." The Supreme Court upheld the Missouri voting legislation saying that the limitation of suffrage to make citizens was not an infringement of Minor's rights under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Another court case was Bush v. Gore. In this case, Al Gore took on George W. Bush Jr. for a recount of votes in four counties in Florida. The four counties "happened" to be Democratic, which Al Gore was Democratic. He wanted to make sure that the votes were put in and that he got his fair vote. The Equal Protection Clause helped everyone to see that "later arbitrary and disparate treatment" was unconstitutional.
Current Event:
In the past months election, Democrats have been rewarded the victory. In most states, the outcomes have been Democratic leaders. In Ohio though, Rob Portman won as a state representative and he was a Republican. In Cuyahoga County, Lee Fisher won most of the votes, but did not pull out when it came to the state as a whole.
My Opinion:
My opinion, when it comes to elections are to pick the person that is best fit for that position. At school I vote for the person I feel will represent my grade in the best way they can. I cant vote in the public yet because I'm not 18 years old, but when I do I will really look into the decisions I have to make.
Questions:
- What made the government change the voting age to 18 rather than what it was before?
- Why do we need so many different representatives in each level of government?
The 2008 Election in Editorial Cartoons from njgruber on Vimeo.
LINKS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF2N4SDGklQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election
http://www.electionprojection.com/index.php
