ABOUT THE US

ELECTION
AND THE
RACE TO THE
O BEFORE YOU START, TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE
US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS!
ELECTION QUIZ

1- What does US mean ?
2- How many states are there in the US ?
3- What is the name of the current US President ?
4- Where does the US President live and work ?
5- What is the name given to the wife of the US President?
6- Name the 2 candidates running for Presidency in 2012
7- Name the 2 major political parties in the USA, their animal
symbols and their colors :
-
-
8- Which candidate is D ?
9- Which one is R ?
10- What does VP mean ?
11- Which official document defines the electing process?
12- What day is Election Day this year ?
13- How many American citizens will vote in 2012 ?
14- They will vote for : Tick : E electoral votes or E a
candidate
15- How often do US presidential elections take place ?
16- How long does a single term of a US President last ?
17- How many terms may a President serve ?
O HOW TO BECOME THE US PRESIDENT :
How can someone be elected the president of the US ? Watch
this video to learn a little more
about the US Electoral System. Complete the LISTENING and
READING tasks.
How to Elect the US president

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ok_VQ8I7g6I
TASK N 1 : Tick the US states you actually hear in the
audio file.
E Florida E Nebraska E South Carolina E North Carolina E Maine E
Arizona E District of Columbia
E Pennsylvania E Kansas E California E Wisconsin E
UTAH

TASK N 2 : Tick the numbers or dates you actually hear.
E 1986 E 1996 E 2000 E 2003 E 2004 E 2008 E 2010 E 2011 E 2012 E
November 6
th
E January 20
th
E January 30
th
E1 E2 E3 E4 E 13 E15 E16 E 18 E33 E36 E40 E50 E 53 E 55 E 63 E
160 E 230 E 270 E 538 E 548
E 3 ,000,000 E 13 ,000,000 E 26 ,000,000 E 36 ,000,000 E
46 ,000,000


Say what the following numbers or dates refer
to :
18 : 2 :

1 : 50 :

36 : 55 :

270 :
January 20
th
:

TASK N 3 : Tick the election-related words you can hear.
E VOTE E BALLOT BOX E PRIME MINISTER E VICE-PRESIDENT E PRESIDENT E
US E ELECTION E US ELECTIONS E CHOICE
E RESPONSIBILITY E RESPONSIBLE E INDIVIDUAL E ELECT E SYSTEM E
PRIMARIES E ELECTORAL COLLEGE E STATE
E ELECTION DAY E POPULAR VOTE E CANDIDATE E CONVENTION E POPULATION
E INFLUENCE E HOMESTATE E DISTRICT
E INAUGURATION DAY E CONGRESSIONAL E RUNNING MATE E THE WHITE
HOUSE E SENATE E SENATORS E ELECTORS
E BE SWORN IN E NATIONAL ELECTION E PRESIDENT ELECT E MAJORITYE
MINORITY E NUMBER E POPULATED STATE
E CONSTITUTION E VOTING E SYSTEM E VOTING MACHINE E ELECTION
PROCESS E CONGRESS E SIMPLE CANDIDATE

TASK N 4 : Tick the election-related verbs you can hear.
E VOTE E STAND E ELECT E HELP E STOP E BEGIN E START E COUNT E
TOTAL E TALLY E BECOME E REACH
E ANALYZE E DECIDE E SELECT ECLAIM E MATTER ESUPPORT E CARE E
CHOOSE ELOSE EWIN ERECEIVE
E INFLUENCE E SWEAR E GAIN


TASK N 5 : Visit the Website below and read the article
entitled : How the President of the United States is elected to
complete your information. Then answer the questions below.
Visit the following Website
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/vote/presi
dential_elections.shtml
C What is the name of the political event at which a political party's
Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates are
determined and the party platform is formalized ?
C Does every state have the same number of Electoral College votes
?
C Who becomes President, the winner of the popular vote or the
winner of the Electoral College vote?
C On what date is a new President of the US inaugurated (sworn into
office) ?
TASK N 6 : Now use what you have learnt and recap
How Candidates get Peoples Votes . Fill in the blanks with words
from the list below. Some words may be used twice.
(WATCH/ISSUES (Questions/Problme) /VICE-PRESIDENT/PRESIDENT/RADIO/
ADS/MONTHS/CANDIDATES/ DECIDE/VOTE/ STATE
VOTERS/VOTES/CANDIDATE/WORK/TV/
PRIMARIES/ELECTORAL/COUNTRY/INTERVIEWS/ WIN/NEWSPAPERS/QUESTIONS/
DEBATES

It takes a lot of .......................................... and
many ............................ to be
elected .......................................... .
People.......................................... during
state ..........................................
and meetings. That helps each
party .......................................... who to choose as their
........................................... The .......................................... try
to get people to vote for them
by giving speeches, .........................................., and paying
for ..........................................
on TV, ..........................................and
in .......................................... .
The candidates then choose their .......................................... .
The candidates have debates where they
answer.......................................... about
the .......................................... that are
important to the people in our .......................................... .
The ..........................................are shown
on.......................................... and millions of
Americans..........................................them! They are supposed
to help..........................................to decide who
to..........................................for.
Each state has a certain number of
electoral .......................................... based on the state
population.
The candidate that gets the most votes in
each..........................................gets all
the .......................................... for that state.
The first candidate
to ..........................................270
..........................................votes becomes the PRESIDENT of
the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
O GETTING TO KNOW THE 2 CANDIDATES: Complete each
candidates ID card :
Visit the following Websites
http://magazines.scholastic.com/Election-2012/Whos-Who
http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/welcome-to-the-
2012-campaign/
http://www.mittromney.com/forms/welcome-0
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/pres/obama/
FULL NAME
ORIGIN

AGE
PARTY
FORMER JOB(s)
STATE OF ORIGIN
FAMILY
RELIGION
RUNNING MATE
(NAME)
O THE CANDIDATES PLATFORMS: Where do the two
candidates stand on the issues ?
Visit the following Websites

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/understanding-
issues/44461
http://2012.candidate-comparison.org/?
compare=Romney&vs=Obama
http://magazines.scholastic.com/election-2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-
15949569



PRESIDENT OBAMA s
PLATFORM
MITT ROMNEY s PLATFORM
ECONOMY
and JOBS

TAXE
S

EDUCATI
ON
HEALTH
CARE

DEFENSE
GAY
RIGHTS

O THE ELECTION RESULTS : ELECTORAL COLLEGE
VOTES
After the US presidential election, fill in the tables below and
color the US states on the map : RED for states that voted
Republican, BLUE for states that voted Democratic. Then make
the total of the Republican votes and the Democratic votes and
tally (= faire le compte) the electoral college votes . Who is
going to be the next President of the USA ? ( Remember ! 270
votes are needed to win)

Visit the following Websites
http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2012/ecalculator#_
http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/welcome-to-
the-2012-campaign/
http://www.mittromney.com/forms/welcome-0

Electoral College Map Activity
1. Which state has the most electoral college votes? (color this
state yellow)
2. Which state has the second most electoral college votes?
(color this state red)
3. Which state has the third most electoral college votes? (color
this state blue)
4. Which state has the fourth most electoral college votes?
(color this state orange)
5. Name a southeastern state that has 15 electoral votes.
6. Name a western state that has 11 electoral votes.
7. Name a New England state that has 3 electoral votes.
8. Name a mid-western state that has 5 electoral votes.
State E. C. Votes Dem Rep
Alabama 9
Alaska 3
Arizona 10
Arkansas 6
California 55
Colorado 9
Connecticut 7
Delaware 3
D.C. 3
Florida 27
Georgia 15
Hawaii 4
Idaho 4
Illinois 21
Indiana 11
Iowa 7
Kansas 6
Subtotal E. C. votes for each party
State E. C. Votes Dem Rep
Kentucky 8
Louisiana 9
Maine 4
Maryland 10
Mass. 12
Michigan 17
Minnesota 10
Mississippi 6
Missouri 11
Montana 3
Nebraska 5
Nevada 5
New Hampsh. 4
New Jersey 15
New Mexico 5
New York 31
No. Carolina 15
Subtotal E. C. votes for each party
State E. C. Votes Dem Rep
No. Dakota 3
Ohio 20
Oklahoma 7
Oregon 7
Penn. 21
Rhode Island 4
So. Carolina 8
So. Dakota 3
Tennessee 11
Texas 34
Utah 5
Vermont 3
Virginia 13
Washington 11
W. Virginia 5
Wisconsin 10
Wyoming 3
Subtotal E. C. votes for each party