{
 "source": "https://peabody.kids/flashcards/elections-and-voting",
 "id": "elections-and-voting",
 "title": "Elections and Voting",
 "category": "social-studies",
 "subject": "Civics",
 "levels": [
  "6-8",
  "9-12"
 ],
 "description": "How Americans choose leaders: voting rights history, parties, campaigns and the Electoral College.",
 "tags": [
  "elections",
  "voting",
  "electoral college",
  "suffrage"
 ],
 "frontLabel": "Term",
 "backLabel": "Meaning",
 "cards": [
  [
   "Election",
   "A process where voters choose officials or decide questions"
  ],
  [
   "Voter",
   "A person who casts a vote"
  ],
  [
   "Voting age",
   "18 in the United States"
  ],
  [
   "Voter registration",
   "Signing up in order to vote; rules vary by state"
  ],
  [
   "Ballot",
   "Form or screen where voters mark their choices"
  ],
  [
   "Secret ballot",
   "Voting privately so no one knows your choice"
  ],
  [
   "Polling place",
   "Location where people vote on Election Day"
  ],
  [
   "Absentee ballot",
   "A ballot sent by mail to someone who cannot vote in person"
  ],
  [
   "Early voting",
   "Voting before Election Day"
  ],
  [
   "Election Day",
   "Tuesday after the first Monday in November for federal elections"
  ],
  [
   "Presidential term",
   "Four years"
  ],
  [
   "Midterm election",
   "Election in the middle of a president's term"
  ],
  [
   "Primary",
   "Election to choose each party's candidate"
  ],
  [
   "Caucus",
   "A meeting where party members choose candidates"
  ],
  [
   "National convention",
   "Meeting where a party nominates its presidential candidate"
  ],
  [
   "Running mate",
   "A presidential candidate's choice for vice president"
  ],
  [
   "Campaign",
   "The effort to win votes"
  ],
  [
   "Debate",
   "Event where candidates discuss issues"
  ],
  [
   "Platform",
   "A party's goals"
  ],
  [
   "Swing state",
   "A state where either party could win"
  ],
  [
   "Electoral College",
   "538 electors who formally choose the president"
  ],
  [
   "Electoral votes needed",
   "270 of 538"
  ],
  [
   "Elector",
   "A person chosen by a state to cast electoral votes"
  ],
  [
   "Winner-take-all",
   "In most states, the candidate who wins the state gets all its electoral votes"
  ],
  [
   "Popular vote",
   "The total number of votes cast by individual voters"
  ],
  [
   "Inauguration",
   "Ceremony when a new president takes office, January 20"
  ],
  [
   "Oath of office",
   "Promise taken by officials when they start their jobs"
  ],
  [
   "Two-party system",
   "Politics dominated by two main parties"
  ],
  [
   "Democratic Party",
   "One of the two major US parties, founded in the 1820s-1830s"
  ],
  [
   "Republican Party",
   "One of the two major US parties, founded in 1854"
  ],
  [
   "Third party",
   "A smaller party outside the two major ones"
  ],
  [
   "Independent",
   "A voter or candidate not tied to a party"
  ],
  [
   "Gerrymandering",
   "Drawing district lines to give one group an advantage"
  ],
  [
   "Redistricting",
   "Redrawing voting districts after each census"
  ],
  [
   "District",
   "An area represented by one official"
  ],
  [
   "Census",
   "Count of all people, every ten years"
  ],
  [
   "Reapportionment",
   "Reassigning House seats among states after the census"
  ],
  [
   "Suffrage",
   "The right to vote"
  ],
  [
   "1789",
   "Early voting was limited mostly to property-owning white men in many states"
  ],
  [
   "15th Amendment (1870)",
   "Said race could not deny the right to vote"
  ],
  [
   "19th Amendment (1920)",
   "Women gained the right to vote nationwide"
  ],
  [
   "Suffragists",
   "People who worked for women's right to vote"
  ],
  [
   "Seneca Falls (1848)",
   "First women's rights convention"
  ],
  [
   "Susan B. Anthony",
   "Suffrage leader who was arrested for voting in 1872"
  ],
  [
   "Alice Paul",
   "Suffragist who led marches and picketing for the 19th Amendment"
  ],
  [
   "Indian Citizenship Act (1924)",
   "Made Native Americans citizens; some states still blocked voting for years"
  ],
  [
   "Poll tax",
   "Fee for voting, used to keep poor and Black voters away"
  ],
  [
   "24th Amendment (1964)",
   "Banned poll taxes in federal elections"
  ],
  [
   "Literacy test",
   "Reading test used to keep Black citizens from voting"
  ],
  [
   "Voting Rights Act (1965)",
   "Protected voting rights and ended many barriers"
  ],
  [
   "Selma marches",
   "1965 marches for voting rights in Alabama"
  ],
  [
   "26th Amendment (1971)",
   "Lowered the voting age to 18"
  ],
  [
   "Motor Voter Act (1993)",
   "Let people register while getting a driver's license"
  ],
  [
   "Ballot measure",
   "A question put to voters directly"
  ],
  [
   "Recall",
   "A vote to remove an official before their term ends, in some states"
  ],
  [
   "Exit poll",
   "Survey of voters leaving polling places"
  ],
  [
   "Election observer",
   "Person who watches voting to make sure it is fair"
  ],
  [
   "Turnout",
   "Percent of eligible voters who vote"
  ],
  [
   "Incumbent",
   "Person currently holding office"
  ],
  [
   "Term limits",
   "Laws limiting how many terms someone can serve"
  ],
  [
   "Campaign finance",
   "How candidates raise and spend money"
  ],
  [
   "Why vote?",
   "Elections let citizens choose leaders and influence laws"
  ]
 ]
}