How Elections Work

Have students read the short text and restate the rule in the box before starting the tables. Remind them to show their work in each box and to use the graph to check their totals.

Compare primary and general elections and explain why voting is done by secret ballot. The directions on the page read: Read the text. Circle the letter of the best answer to question 1. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade Elections and Public Life, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with elections and representation. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

A candidate needs at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes, which is more than half. The Electoral College has students apply the same idea to the 100 electors of fictional Valoria.

A majority means more than half of all the votes cast. In a race with four candidates, like the fictional race on Reading Election Results, the winner can get the most votes without getting a majority.

The United States counts every person who lives in the country every 10 years, and the Constitution requires it. One main use of the count is dividing the seats in the House of Representatives among the states.