Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Concluding Activity
Section 4: Electoral/Voter Behavior
Voter Trends Over Time (analysis/comparisons of different groups of voters by age, gender, race, etc.)
- Exit Polling: Elections and the Media (discusses pros & cons and historical controversy of exit polling) .
- Voter Behavior and Election Results (analyze results of 2012 election, conduct voter turnout poll & compare to state and national voter turnout statistics).
Election Strategies to Target Voters
- Targeting voters through ads (The Living Room Candidate—includes video of historic candidate commercials)
- Modern Political Campaigns Mean Personalization (PBS Newshour Extra)—classroom activity on microtargeting to predict voter behavior, includes 8 minute video.
Protecting Your Right to Vote
Identifying electoral fraud including voter impersonation, voter suppression and corruption of the vote through historical cases. Connecting historical cases with the laws enacted to overcome them.Voter Identification Requirements
Background material—Photo ID requirements: Fraud prevention or voter suppression?- Articles in support of photo ID
- Voter ID Laws Keep Our Elections Secure (U.S. News & World Report)
- Broad Support for Photo ID Voting Requirements (Pew Research Center for the People & the Press)
- Articles opposed to photo ID
- Why New Photo ID Laws Mean Some Won’t Vote (NPR)
- Voter ID is the Real Fraud (The New York Times)
- Overview of both pros and cons of photo ID requirements
- Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Voter ID Laws (Pro Publica)
- Voter ID: Pros, Cons and Costs (NCSL video panel discussion)
- Voter Identification Requirements (NCSL interactive map of states)
- Persuasion Map (readwritethink.org interactive tool for students to use as they develop their persuasive argument about photo ID requirements)
For more information, please email whyvotingmatters@ct.gov.