The Power of One

Many historical events were decided by one vote.

In 1645, ONE VOTE gave Oliver Cromwell control of England
In 1649, ONE VOTE caused Charles I of England to be executed
In 1776, ONE VOTE gave America the English language instead of German
In 1839, ONE VOTE elected Marcus Norton Governor of Massachusetts
In 1845, ONE VOTE brought Texas into the Union.
In 1868, ONE VOTE saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
In 1876, ONE VOTE made Rutherford B. Hayes President of the United States.
In 1924, ONE VOTE gave Adolph Hitler control of the Nazi party.

What is the Mock Election?

Gayle F. McKeachnie, Lieutenant Governor of Utah, says that, "The Mock Election is an ideal way for the youth of our state to begin to grasp the concepts of democracy and empowerment. At a time when responsible citizenship has become so critical, students and teachers should be jumping at the chance to involve themselves in such a worthwhile cause."

A Mock Election is an effort to allow elementary, junior high, and high school students an opportunity to actively participate in the political process by simulating actual elections in their home schools.

The Mock Election is designed to increase awareness and understanding of the election process, to encourage students and their parents to get involved in the process and, ultimately, to create a generation of responsible citizens.

The National Organization of the Mock Election is coordinated by the National Student/Parent Mock Election, headquartered in Tuscon, Arizona. The program is endorsed by both Republican and Democratic Parties as well as the U.S. Department of Education.

Senator Orrin Hatch calls the Mock Election the "largest violence preventon project ever," in that "democracy is a means of nonviolent resolution of conflict."

Why should I vote?

Because your country needs you.

Democracy is defined by the Webster’s Dictionary as “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”

For a democracy to continue, citizens need to participate and be heard. Not everyone in America takes advantage of their right to vote. Americans have the worst voting record among citizens of major democracies.

Young people have been particularly absent from fulfilling this civic responsibility. Since 1972, the percentage of 18-21 year olds who vote has been declining. In 1988, only one in three in this age group voted. A poll by Scholastic magazine shows that most high school students do not think voting is very important. What do you think? What can happen if more and more people decide not to vote?

The History of Voting

Over the years, people have been denied the right to vote for many reasons, including gender, race, citizenship, literacy, religion, age and economic status. In many countries, including the United States, it has taken many years for groups of people to win the right to vote. Citizens of countries like Nicaragua, Russia, Poland or Czechoslovakia, or black residents of South Africa, have waited for many years for a chance to vote in a democratic election. Some are still waiting.

Voting Rights in the United States

1776: Declaration of Independence signed. Right to vote during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods based on property ownership. Although some African Americans are property owners, voters are mostly white male Protestants over the age of 21.

1787: Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia. States are given power to regulate their own voting laws. In most cases, suffrage remains in hands of white male landowners.

1789: George Washington elected president by the unanimous votes of all 69 electors in the Electoral College.

1848: First women’s suffrage convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, seeking equal status for women, especially voting rights.

1865: 13^th Amendment ratified, abolishing slavery.

1866: Congress passes a Civil Rights Act defining citizenship and prohibiting discrimination based on race.

1868: 14^th Amendment ratified, granting citizenship to former slaves.

1869: National American Woman Suffrage Association is founded, with Susan B. Anthony as president.

1870:15^th Amendment ratified, emphasizing legal rights of African Americans to vote and prohibiting state and local governments from denying that right.

1871:Victoria Woodhull addresses Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, stating that women are citizens of the United States and should be allowed to vote under the provisions of the 14^th and 15^th Amendments.

1872: Susan B. Anthony votes but is arrested for violating federal legislation that forbids votes of confederates or traitors.

1875: Supreme Court decides that suffrage is not co-existent with the right to citizenship granted in the 14^th Amendment and women’s rights are to be decided by state legislatures.

1876: Southern states begin to enact measures that restrict ability of Blacks to register and vote. Poll taxes, grandfather clauses and literacy tests introduced in many states.

1884: Supreme Court rules that Native Americans are an exception to the 14^th Amendment and, therefore, do not enjoy rights of citizenship.

1890: Wyoming admitted to statehood and becomes first state to legislate suffrage for women in its constitution after allowing women to vote since 1869 as a territory.

1909:National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded.

1912-1913: Women suffragists lead marches through New York and Washington, D.C.

1920: 19^th Amendment ratified, giving women right to vote in both state and federal elections.

1924: Act of Congress awards citizenship to Native Americans, but they are denied voting rights in New Mexico and Arizona because they pay taxes on their lands, which have trust.

1943: Senator Jennings Randolph introduces a bill to lower the voting age to 18 in both state and federal elections. Georgia lowers voting age from 21 to 18 in state and local elections.

1947: Miguel Trujillo, a Native American and former Marine, sues New Mexico for not allowing him to vote.

1957: Civil Rights Act of 1947 authorizes Justice Department to punish any inference or disruption

1960: Civil Rights Act of 1960 authorizes courts to appoint federal referees to protect voting rights and declares obstruction of these court orders a federal offense.

1961: 23^rd Amendment grants residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections.

1964: Civil Rights Act of 1964 adds further guarantees for the right to register to vote without fear of reprisal.

1964: 24^th Amendment guarantees that the right to vote will not be denied or abridged by failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

1965: In March, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads 25,000 people in Alabama on a March from Selma to Montgomery to demand protection for African American voters. In August, the Voting Rights Act makes discriminatory state voting practices illegal.

1968: Peak of demonstrations that protest the Vietnam War and demand a lowering of the voting age on the premise that people who are old enough to fight are old enough to vote.

1970: Amendments to Voting Rights Act lower voting age to 18 and ban use of literacy tests.

1971: 26^th Amendment ratified, granting voting rights to 18-year-olds.

1975: Amendments to Voting Rights Act require that certain voting materials be printed in languages of specific minority groups.

1993: The Federal National Voter Registration Act was passed by Congress to increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote by making registration available at the Division of Motor Vehicles and public assistance and disability agencies.

This information has been made available to Utah’s Student/Parent Mock Election from the Deseret News.

Election Information


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