Rock the Vote

 

November 6 marks the fifty-seventh Presidential election in U.S. history. All registered voters will cast in their ballot, and the votes will be collected to decide who will be the next President of the United States.

 

I recently registered to vote this summer, since 2012 is the first year that I am allowed to vote. I was excited because this is the first year that I finally get to have my say in who runs this country. Since there are still a lot of people who don’t really know how the whole election process works, here are some things every voter should know.

 

1. To be able to vote, you need to be at least 18 years of age, and a citizen of the U.S. Some states have more requirements, like having no felonies, but it varies. You need to register to vote usually at least a month prior to the election, unless you live in Minnesota, Montana, Idaho or Wisconsin. In those states, voters can register the same day as the election. North Dakota is the only state that does not require voters to register.

2. The way that the votes are counted is by state. Each state has a certain number of votes allotted to them, called electoral votes. This number is determined by the amount of senators and representatives that each state has. There are two senators for every state, and at least one person in the House of Representatives. The number of representatives for each state varies depending on the population of that state. The total number of electoral votes is 538. Larger states like California get 55 electoral votes, whereas smaller states like North Dakota get 3 electoral votes.

3. To win the title of President, the winner needs to get 270 electoral votes. If there is a tie between two of the candidates, meaning each candidate got 269 votes, the House of Representatives would vote to decide who the President will be.

 

In a few days, we will know who our next President will be. Will you have your say in who it will be? To find out more information, go to http://www.rockthevote.com/