Election 2016 Project

Media Center Dates:September 23rd, Friday, Day 2

October 6th, Thursday, Day 2

October 20th, Thursday, Day 2

November 4th, Friday, Day 1

Directions: You and your group members will be working on a mock campaign committee for the candidate you have been assigned in class. Your job will be to complete each assignment by researching your candidate using the website below. You will report to the class about your candidate on their background, views, political parties, finances after each visit to the media center.

Each time we visit the media center on the dates shown above, you will be given an assignment to complete about your candidate. Each group member will have a specific responsibility and will be asked to initial their completed part of the assignment. You WILL NOT be given credit if your initials are not on the assignment.

The first day AND the last day, you will be completing a survey individually to see which candidate that you match up with the best based on your views, and to see if your views have changed over the course of a month.

This is the only website you will need to use and will be using to complete the project:

2016election.procon.org

Here are the Candidates for the 2016 Election

Jill Stein: Green PartyDonald Trump: Republican Party

Hillary Clinton: Democratic Party Gary Johnson: Libertarian Party

Assignment #1- Get to know yourself & your candidate

Directions: Today you will be taking survey and gathering biographical information about your candidate. Each member will take the survey first and then you will decide which assignments each member will complete today. Each member MUST SIGN OFF on his or her part in order to get credit.

  1. Each member must take the quiz on the website: 2016election.procon.org and answer the questions below. Go to the right of the website and look for:

Quiz - Find Your CandidateMatch!

a. What did you think about the questions you were asked?

b. Were you surprised by the final result of whom you matched up with?

  1. Candidate Finances:Find out how much your candidate has raised so far to run in the 2016 election for their campaign. Write down how much they have raised and how much they have spent so far. Look for: Candidate Finances on the right side of the website and click.

a. Raised:b. Spent:

  1. Candidate Biography:On the home page, scroll down and click on your candidate. Next, click on “Biography” to gather information about that person. Here is what you are searching for:
  1. Full name:

Marital status:

Religion:

Age:

  1. Involvement(2 items):
  1. Education(2 items):
  1. Affiliation & Awards(2 items):
  1. Other(1 item):

f. Published work? Yes No

Assignment #2- Get to know the election process

Directions: Below are a series of assignments that you and your group members will be working on to get a better understanding of the election process. You will divide up the assignment among your group and initial who is responsible for each section/question.

  1. Glossary: Look to the right side of the website and click on “DIG DEEPER”. Then click on Glossary. Define the following terms below; they are alphabetical on the webpage.
  1. Battleground state:
  1. Popular vote:
  1. Electoral college:
  1. Third party:
  1. Party platform:
  1. How to register to vote: Look to the right side of the website and click on “How to register to

vote”. Then go to question #3(Am I eligible to vote?), and list the 3 things you must do in order to vote.

  1. Stay on this page, and go to question #2(Why and when do I register to vote?), and find out when you have to register by in order to vote in the presidential election.
  1. How to Become the US President: A Step-by-Step Guide: Click on “How to Become the US President: A Step-by-Step Guide”on the right side of the page and answer the questions below.

a.Go to #1(Meet eligibility guidelines set by the US constitution)- and list 3 criteria someone

must have to run for President of the United States.

b. Go to #8(Election Day: Winning the Popular and Electoral Votes)- and find out whom

actually elects the President of the United States.

c. Stay on #8 and find out how each state is assigned electoral votes, how many Senators does

each state have and how many Representatives does each have?

d. Scroll down under #8 and find the heading: “Election Day”. When is ‘Election Day’in the United States? Figure out the actual Election Day for the 2016 Presidential Election.

Assignment #3-Presidential History & Fun Facts!

Directions: Below are a series of assignments that your and your group members will be working on to take a peek at the presidential election history and some fun facts! You will divide up the assignment among your group and initial who is responsible for each section/question.

  1. Presidential Election History from 1789-2012: Click this heading on the right side of the webpage and answer the following questions below.
  1. What happened to the winner in the 1944 election?
  1. In the 1924 election, what other political party won electoral votes?
  1. Pick another election where an independent political party won electoral votes. Name the

candidate, political party, the number of votes won and the election year.

-Election year:

-Political party:

-Candidate name:

-# of the votes:

  1. Go to the 2000 election and find out who won the popular vote and who won the election

and became President.

-Popular vote winner:

-Election winner:

  1. Go to the 1976 election and find out who won 1 electoral vote. Explain why.
  1. Did you know?- Go to the right side of the webpage and click on this topic. Answer the following questions using this webpage.
  1. Which President has been the only one to serve as both President and Vice President without being elected into office?
  1. How many electoral votes does someone need to officially take office?
  1. How much money did the 5 political parties in the 2012 election spend?
  1. What are the political party logos for the Democrats and the Republicans? Which changed their symbol? What did they change it to?
  1. When does the President officially take office?
  1. Find 2 more facts from this page that you either found interesting or did not know.

1.

2.

Assignment #4-Comparison & Reflection

Directions: This will be an individual assignment. Everyone will turn in his or her own sheet. Follow steps below to complete the assignment.

*Retake the survey from the first assignment. See if you still match the candidate

you had before. Below, write if you had the same candidate or a different one.

  1. Old v. New- You are to choose a different candidate then the one you were assigned. If you were the Republican or the Democratic candidate, you are to choose an Independent candidate. If you were an Independent candidate, you are to choose the Republican or the Democratic candidate. Write your old candidate’s name and the new one below.

Old Candidate:

New Candidate:

  1. Compare Old v. New- You are look at the biography of your old candidate and the

biography of your new candidate. Explain who you believe has more experience and why. Please explain in 3 sentences or more.

  1. Finances- You are to now look at the finances of your new candidate and your old

candidate and write down how much each of these candidates raised and how much they spent. Write down whether there was a significant difference in the numbers( yes or no).

Explain why you think there is or isn’t.

  1. Compare Candidate Positions Side-by-Side- On the right side of the webpage, click on

this topic. Scroll down and you will see all the candidates’ responses to the topics in the survey you took in the first assignment. You are to pick 3 topics that show your new candidate and your old candidate sharing the same opinion on those topics. Write down the topics and their responses: Pro or Con.

*DO NOT PICK RESPONSES THAT SAY NC OR ?- ONLY PICK TOPICS WHERE THE 2 CANDIDATES HAVE RESPONDED EITHER PRO OR CON.