CLASSROOM/LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Objectives:

1. To foster awareness of how to vote and the power of voting.
2. To encourage students to ponder ideas and events that may take place in the future, and to encourage students to make suggestions on how they would handle these events.
3. To promote critical thinking by students on the processes of elections and voting.

Activity 1 : Requirements for the Presidency

Students should either: a) write an essay on whether or not they feel U.S. presidents must be U.S.-born citizens, or whether foreign-born citizens should be permitted to become president; or b) work together in a small group role playing a commission making a recommendation to the Congress on the matter and the possibility of amending the Constitution to permit the latter scenario. The commission should offer its recommendation to the class, who role plays the Congress.

Before pursuing the assignment, read the existing requirements (in Article II of the Constitution) for someone to become president. Consider such questions as:

• Why did the Framers of the Constitution establish such a requirement for the office?
• If you were to draft an amendment to the Constitution establishing requirements for the presidency, what would you include?
• Is the country ready to elect a foreign-born citizen?
• When will we elect the first female president? First black president? What will this mean for democracy?

Activity 2 : E-Voting

Describe how you feel about E-Voting? Students should either: a) write an essay on the topic; or b) work together in a small group role playing a commission making a recommendation to the Palm Beach or Broward county Supervisor of Elections. The commission should offer its recommendations to the class, who role plays the senior officials in the Supervisor's office.

Consider such questions as:

• It is the wave of the future?
• Do you feel it would discriminate against those who do not have computers, making voting more difficult for these individuals?
• Do you feel it would be safe enough or do you feel this may lead to voter fraud?

Explain your answer in detail and include if you would vote in this fashion if available.

Activity 3 : Expansion of Voting Rights

Students should prepare oral presentations on why they feel voting is an important right that should be extended to all. Students will role play an attorney defending a woman or minority who attempted to vote prior to, respectively, the 19 th Amendment (1920) or the 15 th Amendment (1870).

This project should be assigned only after the teacher has presented the history of the country's battle for voting rights. The class should role play the jury, and the teacher can preside as judge. The class can develop circumstances surrounding and the details of the case in question.

Activity 4: Felon Voting in Florida

Students should either: a) write an essay detailing if they feel felons should have the right to vote in Florida; or b) role play a candidate for the Florida state legislature making a speech to an audience on the subject at hand (either PRO or CON).

Students should discuss whether or not they feel this violates the U.S. and Florida Constitutions. Note : Florida has a law dating to 1868 that bars released felons from voting. Some feel you should lose these rights if you are a felon, while others feel it violates our constitutional rights.

Activity 5 : Voting Age

Students should either a) write a paper on the ideal voting age; or b) discuss whether or not they feel the legal voting age should be decreased or raised.

Consider such questions as:

• What are the benefits and repercussions of having teenagers voting?
• What would be a good age for legal voting: 16, 17, 18, 21?

The teacher should go over the history of the change in voting age from 21 to 18.

Activity 6 : Voter Participation

Students should either: a) write a paper on the problems related to the decline in voter participation, suggesting methods for improvement; or b) role play a campaign manager for a campaign that is trying to increase voter turnout and reach youth voters.

Before embarking on the project, have students look up voter turnout rates in recent elections and break down the turnout among groups by race, age, educational attainment, etc… Also, know that all 50 states currently allow naturalized citizens the same voting rights as native-born citizens. For many immigrants, the promise of America has meant freedom and opportunity to vote and participate in a democracy. Since the 1950's, however, overall voter participation in America has declined, reaching an all-time low with the more recent presidential elections.

A series of recommendations were enacted in the 1960's to help reverse the low rate of American voter participation (the abolition of poll taxes and literacy tests, the enfranchisement of those 18 and older, the establishment of voter outreach programs and elections, etc.). Even with all these changes voter participation has continued to drop. Would this suggest that it is not the procedures governing American politics and elections but rather the substance of American politics, which is at the heart of declining rates of voter participation and public disaffection with the political process?

Research tells us that one problem with voter participation is an uninformed electorate. If Americans were to supplement the information they receive from television with deeper and more adequate information from other sources, such as newspapers, how would this improve voter participation?

Consider the following questions:

• What are the dangers of low voter turnout?
• Why do you think a growing number of younger Americans are choosing not to vote?
• How would you suggest improving voter participation?

Activity 7: Issue Advocacy

Using your local newspaper: a) search for articles, political cartoons, feature stories, or opinion columns, which exemplify the substantive issues in your community (you can substitute your school paper and issues at your school); b) prepare your own analysis of each, considering whether or not you believe these issues reflect the central concerns of the electorate; and c) select an issue and design a strategy for placing the issue on the public agenda and making a change on the issue.

Consider strategies such as:

• Writing a letter to the editor
• Writing a letter to an elected official
• Visiting or lobbying an elected official
• Starting a concerned citizen's group
• Leading a boycott or public protest
• Circulating a petition

Students should actually design and undertake the strategy.

Activity 8: Political Beliefs

Students should pair up and interview one another to determine each other's political beliefs, political party affiliation, and the underlying influences that contributed to their beliefs.

Students should ask their partner a series of questions (have students develop a list of questions), such as:

• What is your parents' party affiliation?
• Do your parents discuss politics in the household?
• Have you ever been to a political rally?
• Do you follow the news?
• What is your religion? Does it influence your beliefs?
• Did your parents graduate from college?
• What are your views on the issues?