Elections, Parties, and Pressure Groups
Session 7: Registration and Voting

Materials

• Political Process Vocabulary List (Attachment A)
• Transparency: “Voter Statistics, Virginia 2000” (Attachment G)
• Computer with Internet access

Instructional Activities

1. Write the day's vocabulary words on an overhead or on the board (see Attachment A). Briefly discuss their meanings.
   
   
2. Duplicate and distribute a copy of the Virginia voter registration form (download the form yourself or have students download a form from the following Web site: http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/documents/VirginiaVoterRegistrationApplication.PDF).  Ask students to study the form to determine any requirements they can see on it (e.g., age, residency). There are several questions the teacher may need to explain, particularly references to being declared incompetent.
   
   
3. Provide notes on the basics of voter registration:
    
   Qualifications to register to vote in Virginia
   •    Citizen of the United States
   •    Resident of Virginia and precinct
   •    18 years of age by day of general election
   
   Ways to register in Virginia
   •    In person at the registrar's office
   •    At the Division of Motor Vehicles
   •    At other designated sites
   •    By mail
   
   Registration closes 29 days before elections.
   
   
4. Ask students to turn in their textbooks to the section on voter turnout. Also have them examine the transparency on voter statistics (Attachment G). Ask them to identify three reasons people do not vote. Ask them to brainstorm with a fellow student for ways to increase voter turnout. Discuss any suggestions. Explain that the registration process has become more convenient recently, yet the voter turnout continues to decline. Turnout is higher in an election expected to be close or one in which voters have a keen interest.
   
   
5. Assign for homework the section in the textbook on rising campaign costs.