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From Classroom Teachers | General ideas for using clips
Campaign specific
What is the difference between absentee voting and early voting? List some of the problems Curtis Gans finds with early voting and absentee balloting. Which do you think are the most valid? What reasons does Rebecca Virgil-Giron give in favor of allowing early and absentee ballot voting, especially in the case of her own state of New Mexico? Do you think that spreading out the vote over a period as long as a month "...undermines the communal act of voting" as Mr. Gans contends? Are arguments for early voting and absentee balloting, such as illness and travel, valid? With whom do you most agree?
 Media literacy
Florida’s Palm Beach Post claims there have been problems with early voting already and that Democrats are more concerned than Republicans. Why would such problems concern Democrats in Florida? Who bears the responsibility for educating the electorate? the federal government? state governments? schools? the media?
More ideas View
the beginning of the panel discussion. What is the history of voting with a secret ballot? Is the secret ballot important, and, if so, is it more important in a close election year? Mr. Gans says that one problem lies with people’s lack of motivation to vote. Do you agree? Is there more to the problem of low voting rates? What do you believe we, as a nation, can do to ensure more that people vote? Identify non-partisan organizations that help educate the electorate on the issues.
What is the Help America Vote Act? What is the Motor Voter Law?
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