Urban Go-Team 2014

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.

Reflection on Activities

• Was polling an enjoyable thing to do?

I thought that polling was a really cool and very personal, hands-on experience. It was interesting to hear the different opinions and their own takes on the American political system.

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

I feel like I did get a wide verity of opinions. I had many different answers and ideas which was something I expected.  Although some of the answers were interesting and a bit surprising, the fact that there was many different answers seemed inevitable.

• 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 have faith in the board of elections. I thought there professionalism and transparency was evident and they also were very knowledgeable and bipartisan which was reassuring.

Questions from Election 101 Quiz

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

• To Vote

1. Money interest
2. Personal connections to a candidate or a particular issue
3. Exercising your constitutional right
4. Letting your voice be hears

• To Not Vote

1. Timing, transportation, disability, not being able to get to the poll, ect.
2. Lack of interest
3. Felling under-education on issues and candidates

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

• I think as technology and campaigning evolves and candidates try to keep up with the changing times which has become costly. 

General Wrap-Up

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

• I did not know too much about the specifics of elections so the trip to the board of elections was very educational as well as beneficial to be able to see how elections are run. Learning all about elections from the ballots to how they decide your district was all very interesting.

What was the best part of today?

• It was cool to be able to register to vote! I also had a good time polling.

Reflection on Activities

• Was polling an enjoyable thing to do? It actually was! I was really skeptical at first because its awkward walking up to people and asking questions, but they actually can be very opinionated and its interesting how their opinions differ from others and even my own.

Questions from Election 101 Quiz

• Campaign spending has gone up quite a bit within the past 10 years. Why do you think that is? Where do you think that money goes? I think that a lot of the money goes into advertisements to not only promote the candidate, but also to bash the opposing parties. Also I think that some of the money, may go to the party that supports the candidate, and the staff who work behind the scenes. Although, I wish that money candidates receive towards their campaigns would be spent to enact programs and repair things that they’re promising while running. I think that this strategy would actually inspire a higher voter turnout for this candidate, because the people know that he/she is serious about the programs being promised.

General Wrap-up

• What did you know about today’s activity prior to today’s experience? Not as much as I thought I did. I’d always thought that voting was a rather simple process, but I never stopped to consider all of the people who work crazy long hours behind the scenes.
• What did you learn today? I learned that mostly elderly people work at the polling stations (which seems extremely obvious now because they generally have a lot of time on their hands). And I began to wonder how we could incorporate new types of jobs related to voting (because the vote is such a core value that Americans seem to pride themselves on a lot) so that elderly are not the only ones who are helping out. Perhaps fixing the online voting situation. And find new and innovative ways for people to be informed about what their local governments are doing after elections. I feel as though this may add a sense of prestige to working for the vote.
• What was the best part of today? Besides the food- which was fantastic! The polling. I talked with a lot of people that I would (under normal circumstances) never have any reason to go up to and talk to. I was intrigued by the diversity just in the small area I worked in, and began to wonder how people that live so close to one-another could end up having such different opinions.

Last three questions first.

I think people vote because they want a say on how this country is run. They truly want to change things and make sure their rights and hopefully the rights of others are preserved and will be. Others perhaps see it as an obligation to their party and the party their family has always believed in. Those that choice not to vote may be too busy on election day, they could see their vote as useless, and/or they could just not care.

The most reasonable answers I could think of for number 10: Ads,Travel, Themselves (Food, ect.).

The candidates might employ a guilt trip because of party loyalties, others take key issues to side on, and they might use promises to tackle certain problems.

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

I had a general idea of things and a idea of the people’s opinions but this cement and brought up things I had never thought of.

What did you learn today?

The physical process of voting, how one vote change things and how a few people in the same area are thinking.

What was the best part of today?

For an introvert I liked talking to strangers. I don’t know if it was the freeing notions of the parent rule ‘Don’t talk to strangers’ or just getting actually people’s voice heard that I liked best.

What was the worst part of today?

I was with my sister all day. (I’m just kidding, [kind of].) Over all it was an awesome day.

Reflection on Activities

Was polling an enjoyable thing to do?

Polling was very fun because we were able to meet a variety of people and get a variety of answers. It was interesting to see how the majority of people answered while getting some unique perspectives.

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 feel confident that elections in the City of St. Louis are honest and organized, but at the same time, they can be so organized it becomes chaotic. The fact that they have Republicans and Democrats working together made me feel best about elections, but the fact that anyone can buy a disc with voter information made me feel worse. I also didn’t like how much had labor goes into the elections, but I understand the alternative of internet voting has its dangers.

Questions from Election 101 Quiz

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 in order to have a say in their future, support their party, or keep someone out of office. I think people would not vote because of bad weather, the long drive to the voting areas, or the amount of time it takes.

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 don’t know why the price has increased, but I think the money goes to anything from clothing to campaign staff.

General Wrap-Up

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

I didn’t really know anything about today’s activities.

What did you learn today?

I learned about what goes on behind the scenes of voting and the different types of voters and perspectives.

What was the best part of today?

I really liked it all!