Elections

Here are some Web sites to help students and teachers interested in following and learning about the elections.

Quick Links:  Elementary | Middle and High School | Election History

Elementary

The PBS Kids Democracy Project presents information for elementary students in three interactive sections: "How Does Government Affect Me?" "Step Inside the Voting Booth," and "Be President for a Day."

Ben's Guide to Government presents The Election Process, a basic guide to the election of federal officials including the president, vice president, senators and representatives. This guide for grades 3-5 is provided by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

Congress for Kids Elections page provides information, games and activities to help students understand election issues such as candidates, voting, political parties and more. this site is from the Dirkson Congressional Center.

Scholastic News' Election 2012 special report provides a kids' eye view of the presidential election, including kid reporters blogging about the election. The site includes election vocabulary and an election timeline. election games like Create a Campaign Poster and You're the Candidate.

Time for Kids Election 2012 includes campaign news, meet the candidates, and election games.

Kids Voting USA® is a national nonprofit organization that teaches students about citizenship, civic responsibility, democracy, and the importance of political participation. Students can cast a Kids Voting ballot on election day, voting on the same candidates and issues as the adults. The site includes information for teachers, as well as activities for grade K-12 classes who have registered with the site.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election is a nationwide effort to get students interested in and involved in our democratic process. American students will vote for President, Senators, Congresspersons and Governor (in states that are having a gubernatorial election). Curriculum materials for primary, middle and high school students and a BrainPop movie about elections are provided on the Web site.

ZOOMout the Vote features Elections 101, a short discussion of the voting process and why voting matters. This site from PBS, targeted to six- to twelve-year-olds, was designed for the 2004 elections but the voting process information is still valid.

Reading Rockets provides Hail to the Chief, a list of picture books appropriate for 3-9 year olds on the theme of elections.

The National Student/Parent Mock Election is a nationwide effort to get students interested in and involved in our democratic process. American students will vote for President, Senators, Congresspersons and Governor (in states that are having a gubernatorial election). Curriculum materials for primary, middle and high school students are provided on the Web site.

Middle and High School

The Election 2012 Collection from PBS is an aggregation of links to election-related resources on PBS LearningMedia for middle and high school. Available resources include both current events for the 2012 Presidential Election and in-depth learning opportunities that can be used in any study of the U.S. government and election processes. In Wisconsin, LearningMedia is brought to you by Wisconsin Media Lab.

Wisconsin Public Television and Public Radio present WisconsinVote, an elections site that provides information on candidates running for state and federal office.

My Vote Wisconsin from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board includes information for voters in Wisconsin. The Voter Information Center includes information for individuals. The Voter Statistics section includes a historical table that shows the percentage of the voting-age population that voted in elections from 1948-2000.

Project Vote-Smart provides information about candidates and elected officials in five categories: biographies, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, and interest group ratings. Users can enter their zip code to see a list of their local elected officials and candidates, then click on a name for their voting records, speeches and public statements, and more.

Vote411.org, from the League of Women Voters, provides candidate statements about a range of issues and other issues related to the elections.

2012 Presidential Election from the ProCon.org site provides information on the US presidential candidates and their views on 68 issues including abortion, bailouts, education, medical marijuana, and taxes. ProCon.org is an independent, nonprofit research group.

Campaign 2012 from C-Span features information about the candidates, video clips of candidate campaign statements and debates. The Road to the Whitehouse section gives an overview of the election process, and C-Span's Electoral College Map shows a great visual representation of Electoral College voting since 1900.

Decision 2012 from NBC Learn uses stories from the current and past presidential elections in teaching and learning modules.

FactCheck.org is a good place to go to check candidate statements for truthfullness or spin.

eLECTIONS is an online game in which students role-play as candidates running for President. Players manage their campaign during the primaries and the general campaign, raising money and choosing campaign events that fit their message. eLECTIONS was created by Cable in the Classroom with CNN Student News, C-SPAN and History.

Elections: The American Way, from the Library of Congress, provides an interactive guide to elections that covers the candidates, voters. party system, election process, and issues.

See the elections from another country's point of view: the BBC provides US2012, following key issues and providing candidate profiles and poll tracking.

Rock the Vote aims to encourage young people to take advantage of their right to vote. The Web site includes information on voter registration and election issues.

Election 2012: Teaching Ideas and Resources provides lesson plans for grades 6-12 from the New York Times Learning Network written in consultation with Bank Street College of Education.

The Voting and Elections site from the U.S. Governments FirstGov portal includes basic facts about voting and elections, statistics such as voter turnout in recent elections, and links to many relevant government sites such as the Federal Elections Board.

Ben's Guide to Government presents The Election Process, a basic guide to the election of federal officials including the president, vice president, senators, and representatives. This guide for grades 9-12 from the U.S. Government Printing Office also includes a section on voter registration. A similar guide for grades 6-8 is available.

U.S. Government Elections is a State Department site designed to inform people from other countries about the U.S. electoral process.

ElectionGuide from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems tracks elections that are going on all over the world.

The Electoral College: How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections is an official report from the Congressional Research Service. This printable document includes a brief history of the electoral college system. It explains the allocation of electoral votes and the full electoral process, from the nomination of electors through the declaration by Congress.

NewsHour Extra, from PBS features information and lesson plans.

Election coverage from several national news sources:
MSNBC Politics
CBS News: Issues 2012
Christian Science Monitor: DC Decoder: Obama vs. Romney 101
ABC: OTUS News

Election History

Presidents: The Secret History from PBS American Experience presents historical facts about presidents and elections for elementary students.

The National Museum of the Moving Picture presents The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2012. This site features video clips of more than 250 television commercials from every election year beginning in 1952, when the first campaign ads aired.

Vote: The Machinery of Democracy looks at the history of voting methods in the United States. This engaging exhibit from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History explores how ballots and voting systems have evolved over the years as a response to political, social, and technological change.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Electoral College site assembles a variety of information and statistics on presidential elections, past and present: Records include Electoral College Box Scores from 1789 through 2000 and a procedural guide to the Electoral College.

The New York Times Looks Back: Presidential Elections 1896-1996 features historic articles, editorials, trivia quizzes, and facts about U.S. presidents.

The Presidential Elections, 1860-1912 looks at historical political cartoons from Harper's Weekly and other publications. For each election, the site provides historical context, including a timeline of events, information on key issues, and brief biographies of the candidates. The site is from HarpWeek, an online index of Harper's Weekly from 1867-1916.

EASE History Campaign Ads uses presidential campaign ads as entry points to learn about campaign issues, historical events, historical context, presidential leadership attributes, persuasive techniques, and campaign strategy.

The Great Debate and Beyond: The History of Televised Presidential Debates, from the Museum of Broadcast Communications, includes a complete transcript and analysis of the first televised presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy, as well as many video clips from 1960-1996 debates.

Today in History from the Library of Congress American Memory site provides snippets of historical interest from election days past.


Created 8/2008
Last updated 10/29/12