General Wrap-Up

What did you know about today’s activity prior to today’s experience?

I knew about the general process of voting and what efforts went into it (i.e. what was needed to be done to make sure the votes were efficiently counted).

What did you learn today?

I learned about how voting was dealt with locally and the variety of perspectives voters have.

What was the best part of today?

I liked all of the activities we did today.

 

Election 101 Quiz Questions

Can you think of 3-5 reasons people would want to vote? What about 3-5 reason that people do not vote?

I think people would want to vote to have their opinion heard in order to support what they think is right for the city/state/country etc., to support leaders in government that they see best fit, or to exercise their right as an American citizen. I think people do not vote due to inconveniences such as bad weather, simply because they do not feel like it, and that they do not think that their vote will matter in the end (“So many people vote, mine won’t make a difference.”).

Campaign spending has gone up quite of bit within the past 10 years. Why do you think that is? Where do you think that money goes?

I think campaign spending has gone up to advertise to a wider group of people, and therefore uses more methods besides commercials on T.V. I think the money put into the campaigns goes into said advertisements.

Can you think of 3-5 ways a candidate might try to get people to a.) come out and vote, then b.) vote for him or her over the other candidate(s)?

Candidates might try to get people to vote by advertising their campaign on the media (such social networking sites or television), speaking about issues that they say they will handle (and how they will handle them), and emailing voters to further enforce their goals (if they are elected) into the voters’ minds. Candidates may speak negatively about their opponent, explain the outcomes of their plans (if carried through once they are elected, these are usually positive outcomes), and show examples of how their house has helped the nation/state/city, etc. progress because of their actions in order to get voters to vote for them over the other candidate(s).

 

Reflection on Activities

Was polling an enjoyable thing to do?

I think the polling was more “interesting” than “fun”. I don’t usually talk to random people on the street, and it was a new experience for me that I ended up learning from because of all the different insights people had.

From the polling, did you get any “snapshots” of how people feel about public issues?

A lot of people felt that there’s an abundance of difficult public issues that need to be solved soon. The attitude towards public issues seemed to lean towards the negative. Many suggestions came up on how to solve these public issues, which was very reassuring.

From your experience at the St. Louis Board of Election Commissioners, do you feel confident that elections in the City of St. Louis are honest and well-organized? What made you feel best about elections in St. Louis and what made you feel worse?

I do feel that the elections in St. Louis are honest and well-organized. The fact that Democrats and Republicans are effectively working together in elections makes me feel best. To counteract that, what made me feel worse about St. Louis elections was how voter information could be so easily accessed on the discs.