Voting in the United States

Lesson Plan - Get It!

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To vote in an election means to choose between two or more candidates in an official capacity, usually through a ballot.

The United States of America is a unique and special country because it gives its citizens the right to vote. This means that every U.S. citizen is given the right to help shape the future of America by voting for the public officials who they think should represent them.

America's Founding Fathers ensured that voting, along with other fundamental human rights, was a part of the earliest foundations of this country.

The Declaration of Independence states:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --"

Read The Founders and the Vote to better understand the phrase consent of the governed.

The history of voting in America is long and has evolved since 1776, when only men who owned land could vote. Over time, people fought to amend that law until every United States citizen, regardless of race, gender, religion, or education, had the right to vote.

Check out the history of voting rights in the U.S. timeline within the resource below. Consider reading the entire article for a more detailed look at how voting rights evolved.

The 19th Amendment passed 100 years ago today. The evolution of American voting rights in 244 years shows how far we've come — and how far we still have to go

In the United States today, any American citizen who is 18 or older can vote in an election. Because every state has its voting requirements, where a citizen lives can impact their right to vote.

For example, some states restrict the voting of people who have committed federal crimes. Certain states may also have slightly different age requirements to register to vote; however, you must be 18 years of age when you cast your ballot.

Watch the video below for tips on how to vote in the United States.

Hopefully, you noticed the very necessary actions every U.S. citizen must take to vote.

• registering to vote
• finding your local polling place, which is where you will cast your ballot
• making sure you know when to vote
• bringing a government-issued ID to your local polling place on election day

An important term associated with voting is the ballot. When you vote for a public officer in the United States, such as a president, judge, senator, or mayor, you cast a ballot.

A ballot is a slip or piece of paper to cast your vote. Before electronic voting began, everyone used paper ballots.

Another unique aspect of voting is that it's secret. No one else but you sees who you vote for when you cast your ballot.

Now that you know more about voting history, learn how U.S. elections work. While the Founding Fathers based America's democracy on the one found in England, they instituted several important differences, detailed in the following video.

Wow! Great job in the Get It! section. Hopefully, you learned a lot about voting in the United States.

Move on to the Got It? section and apply what you've learned.