Election Day for kids: How to talk to your children about voting for president
It's (almost) Election Day in America. Soon citizens across the United States will get in line to cast their vote − in fact, some already have! The ballots filled out through Tuesday will decide who becomes the 47th president and who helps make the laws alongside them in Congress.
From the radio to the television to the dinner table, maybe you've heard people predicting who is going to win and explaining why. But the truth is − nobody knows just yet!
And they won't. Until Americans have their say. Here's a quick explanation of how that works.
Why is voting important?
Voting is how the American people make their voices heard. It's also how we hire and fire our elected officials. That means technically the president works for us! So when we head to the voting booth to cast our ballot we are choosing to give power to someone we want to represent us or take it away from someone we don't.
Not everyone around the world gets to vote, which is why many Americans consider it such a privilege. Living in a democracy means having the opportunity to influence the laws that rule the land and the people who make those laws.
How does the election work?
While America is a democracy it is not a direct democracy, meaning the election is not simply decided by whoever gets the most votes. In fact, in both 2016 and 2000, the candidates who ultimately won the election lost the popular vote − meaning they received fewer overall votes than their opponent.
Citizens also don't vote on each individual law. They elect representatives to do that.
The presidential election process works similarly. To choose a president, America uses the Electoral College. Each state has a certain number of "electors" which is equal to the number of representatives they have in Congress. Those electors traditionally cast their ballot for the candidate who has won the most votes in their state.
Maine and Nebraska split their electoral votes, meaning the process is a little more complicated and not all the votes will automatically go to whoever won the most state-wide.
To win the electoral college you need 270 electoral votes.
What are the two political parties?
Trick question, there are lots of political parties! The Green Party, the Libertarian Party and even the Communist Party are all represented in the United States.
However, the two major political parties are the Republicans and the Democrats. Every president elected in America since the late 1800s has belonged to one of those parties.
That's why, midway through election night, you'll see maps with states colored red for Republicans or blue for Democrats, indicating which party's nominee has won that area.
Why a donkey and an elephant?
Aside from red and blue, Republicans and Democrats are also symbolized by the elephant and the donkey. The animal logos date back to the 19th century, The History Channel reports. In 1828 opponents of then-candidate Andrew Jackson called him a swear-word that describes a donkey. Rather than be upset, Jackson showed he was in on the joke and used a picture of a donkey on his campaign posters.
After that, Thomas Nast, who drew cartoons in the 1870s began using the symbol for the whole Democratic party, and it caught on!
As for the elephant, it also didn't really catch on until Nast used it in a cartoon for Harper’s Weekly in 1874, The History Channel reports.
What's Congress?
Congress is the umbrella name for both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which make up the legislative branch of the federal government.
Each state has two senators, some of whom are running for reelection just like Kamala Harris this year. The number of representatives a state has is based on how many people live there, and all 435 of them are on the ballots in each of their states this year.
Who is running for president?
This year, it is likely that either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will win the election for president.