Catherine Hedge League of Women Voters of Manhattan/Riley County Why Vote? And How?

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. (We are the Suffragettes!)

If you could do anything to change our city, state, and nation, What would you do? (2 minutes and share out)

So…. Who is responsible for making those changes happen? How do they get in the position to do so?

…that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth

One State, One County, One Judge decides a presidency… 537 votes separating Bush and Gore Out of 6 million votes cast in Florida 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court George W. Bush becomes the president So…does your vote count?

Newspaper: Butterfly ballot cost Gore White House CNN NEWS March 11, 2001 Web posted at: 8:43 a.m. EST (1343 GMT) In this story: WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) -- Voters confused by Palm Beach County's butterfly ballot cost Al Gore the presidency, The Palm Beach Post concluded Sunday. The newspaper's review of discarded ballots found Gore lost 6,607 votes when voters marked more than one name on the county's "butterfly ballot." A leading Republican called the finding "speculation." Voters who marked Gore's name and that of another candidate totaled more than 10 times the winning margin Bush received to claim Florida's 25 electoral votes and the White House, the Post concluded. The newspaper said the result was "an indictment of the butterfly ballot, political experts and partisan observers agree." The newspaper's review of the overvotes found 5,330 Palm Beach County residents invalidated their ballots by punching chads for Gore and Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan. The hole voters punched for Buchanan was located just above Gore's on the two-page ballot. The ballots showed another 2,908 voters punched Gore and Socialist David McReynolds, whose hole appeared just below Gore's. Buchanan's and McReynolds' names appeared on the right page of the ballot, while Gore's was on the left. The confusion hurt Bush, too: 1,631 people punched Bush and Buchanan, whose hole was below his on the ballot. But Gore was the bigger loser: the two Gore combinations, minus the Bush-Buchanan votes, totaled 6,607 lost votes for Gore, the Post found.

Imagine…. Here is the person who is most opposite you… The one who disagrees with everything you are and everything you believe. This individual’s idea of the path our community, state, and country should follow is diametrically opposed to your view. If this person votes and you don’t…what will your future be?

Results for Riley County General Election, 2014 (Gubernatorial, U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and local leaders)

Why?? That is what you’ll spend the semester discovering! So… How do you register to vote?

Getting Registered in Kansas Part 1: Sign up at the Department of Motor Vehicles, on-line, at the County Clerk, in the lunch room next Tuesday! Part 2: Find your birth certificate! (You can order a free one from Kansas Vital Statistics if you were born in Kansas) Part 3: Make a copy and send it to the County Clerk or take a picture and /text to the County Clerk In Kansas, if you don’t do this, you aren’t registered!! (The LWV is fighting this nationally) Part 4: Check on-line to make sure you are REALLY registered! (You will get a card notifying you when your registration is complete and telling you where to vote. (You can’t vote just anywhere!) Part 5: You can vote early or wait to election day, but you MUST bring a government issued Picture ID (license, student ID card from state college or high school, (check the list!) If you MOVE you need to re-register! (You may keep your family’s address as a permanent residence, but then you must vote here.) Stay informed…stay active…vote to change your world!

League of Women Voters, Manhattan/Riley County P.O. Box 835 Manhattan, Ks Find us at: Blog: Twitter: Facebook :