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  Elections

Introduction Election Day Voting Election of the President Candidates Political Parties Primary Election National Conventions National Conventions - An Inside View Candidates at the Convention The Campaign Polling Places The Electoral College The Electoral Map The Inauguration

  

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Books & Reading

Books & Reading

How does a caucus differ from the primary elections?

Which state held the first presidential primary elections?

Why can't we have a one-day presidential primary election? Why must it span over months and yet we only have one day to vote in the general presidential election?


Electing a President: Primary Elections


 

Primary Election Political Parties Election Day Voting Election of the President Candidates National Conventions National Conventions - An Inside View Candidates at the Convention The Campaign Polling Places The Electoral College The Electoral Map The Inauguration

 
The Primary Election

Congressional Election and Organization: Sharing the Power
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/polisci/
patterson/olc/stu/sa12.htm
Self-Assessment Quizzes -- Do your students understand the nature and relationship of congressional elections and organization? Find out by introducing these self-assessment multiple-choice and true-false quizzes.

Election Unscramble
http://www.abcteach.com/Elections/unscramble.htm
Print and unscramble the words that are related to elections.

Election Venn
http://www.abcteach.com/Elections/venn.htm
Use the Venn Diagram to compare candidates or issues in the election.

Magnetic Polls - Exploring the Results and Effects of the New Hampshire Primaries
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/
20000203thursday.html
Lesson Plan - Explore the New Hampshire primaries and the polling process by analyzing polling information, examining the effects of polls, and creating graphs that represent polling data.

The Presidential Nominating System
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/
history/primaries_12-19.html
Lesson Plan - Learn about the system of primaries and caucuses by which candidates for U.S. president are nominated by their parties.

USA Elections Interactive
http://www.abcteach.com/wordpuzzles/onlinepuzzles/election.html
Interactive crossword puzzle

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The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses is one of the first steps in the process of electing the President of the United States of America. The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events run by the political parties. A state primary election usually is an indirect election: instead of voters directly selecting a particular person running for President, it determines how many delegates to each party's national convention each candidate will receive from that state.

Surf with Uncle Sam
Surf with Uncle Sam

Word Spy
Word Spy

Projects You Can Do

Learn more about and even get involved in your state's primary/caucus. What is the history of primaries and/or caucuses in your state? How do the parties differ in the rules they set for the primary or caucus in your state? How would an interested voter get more involved in the process? What special role, if any, is your state's primary or caucus likely to have in the next presidential primary season? Get more involved by working on the campaigns of particular candidates, helping to inform voters by volunteering for nonpartisan organizations such as The League of Women Voters, or by "poll watching" on primary day.

 

Awards

 

The Dirksen Congressional CenterCopyright 2008