The Ten News Election Special - 5 Things You Need to Know!
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The Ten News: Election Special Minisode #1
Election Special - 5 Things You Need to Know! 1.⏰ Early Voting Has Begun 2.🆚 The Popular Vote vs. The Electoral College. 3.🤨 What Are Swing States? 4.🇺🇸 The Presidential Race is REALLY Close! 5.🗳️ Local Elections
Resources
https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53558176
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/16/g-s1-22212/election-harris-trump-swing-states
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/us/elections/polls-president.html#pollsharris
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Transcript:
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
PAM: Hey Ten’ers, notice anything different about today…?
RYAN: Yeah, instead of chapstick in my pocket, I have seven tater tots. How did you notice that Pam?
PAM: Ummm, I didn’t notice that, but ok. Today’s different because we are coming to you on a different day than we normally do!
RYAN: Ahh yes! We’re kicking off our Election Special Minisodes! We’ve got a lot to say, and not a lot of time. I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, it’s Tuesday, October 8th.
RYAN: We are The Ten news and this is an Election Special Report!
PAM: It’s been a pretty wild election season. After losing the 2020 election, Former President Donald Trump became the 2024 Republican nominee, and his VP running mate is Ohio Senator, JD Vance. On July 21st, President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, later became the Democratic nominee and selected Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz as her running mate.
RYAN: As of today, there are 27 days until the 2024 Presidential election. Which takes place on Tuesday, November 5th. It’s less than a month away, so we are counting down each week to the election. And this week, here are five key things to know about the 2024 elections.
PAM: Number 1: EARLY VOTING HAS BEGUN
Early voting has begun in many US states, but its rules and schedule vary from state to state. In Illinois, you can vote up to 40 days before Election Day. So while the candidates are out campaigning, millions of voters are already casting their ballots. Voters can either drop off a ballot they received in the mail to a collection box or head to a polling station to cast their ballot. Polling stations can be set up in schools, libraries, or even garages of houses!
RYAN: Number 2: THE POPULAR VOTE VS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
As those ballots get counted, it is important to remember that the US Presidential Election isn’t decided by the “popular vote,” the overall count of the votes that come in. For example, Donald Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 but still won the presidency because…The Presidential Election is actually decided by the “Electoral College.”<SFX: Dun, Dun> No, it’s not a school or university, the word college is referring to a group of people with a shared task. Those people are electors and their job is to choose the President and Vice President.
PAM: Each state has a set number of electors and its in line with the state’s population. A state’s elector count matches the amount of lawmakers they have in Congress, aka the House and Senate. California has the most electors with 54, while some sparsely populated states like Wyoming, Alaska and North Dakota have the minimum of 3.
RYAN: There are 538 Electoral Votes in total and a presidential candidate needs 270 electoral votes or more, to win the presidency. Generally, a state awards all of its electoral votes to the candidate that wins the majority of the state but some states like Maine and Nebraska can split their electoral college votes between the candidates.
PAM: Number 3: WHAT ARE THE SWING STATES
Most states’ electoral college votes end up going to the same party each election, for example, California tends to vote Democrat while Texas has historically been Republican. But…some states can swing either way and so you are probably hearing the term Swing States being thrown around a lot right now. These states are considered the key to winning the presidency. The likely Swing States in 2024 are Georgia, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Swing States are also known as battleground states, toss-up states or purple states!
RYAN: Number 4: THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE IS REALLY CLOSE
According to the polls, the Presidential race is really, really close. Political polls are surveys taken to get voters’ opinions to see how they MIGHT vote. As of right now, Vice President Harris leads former President Trump by two points in multiple polls, including ones from Marist College and Emerson College. But that can easily change by the time that you’re listening to this. While polls can give us an idea of the outcome of the election, the only thing that actually matters is VOTING. And yes, even though the Electoral College decides the presidency, those electors are ultimately based on the INDIVIDUAL votes in each state, and all votes matter.
PAM: Number 5: LOCAL ELECTIONS
And the other reason all votes matter? The local races! Aside from the Presidential election, there are all sorts of other elections happening right now as well. 33 Senate seats are up for election, all 438 House of Representative seats are up as well. And voters in 41 states will decide on 147 statewide ballot measures. State voting measures decide things like healthcare access in your state, environmental laws, and state spending. Local races decide who will run your state as the Governor, and state legislature, and those people have a lot of power over what happens day to day where you live.
RYAN: So ask your grown ups what their voting plan is! Are they voting early? Mailing it in? Or going on Election Day? Who are they voting for, and why?
PAM: Stay curious and ask questions because Ten’ers, you are the future and one day, you’ll have the opportunity to vote too!
RYAN: And that was 5 things to know about the 2024 Elections.
PAM: And here’s a random fact as a bonus: the last Republican US President to win the popular vote was George W. Bush, when he defeated John Kerry in the 2004 election.
RYAN: That’s all for today. And a reminder, our regular Ten Things You Need to Know will drop on Thursday. This is the Ten News. I’m Ryan Willard.
PAM: And I’m Pamela Kirkland, thanks for listening to this Election Special Report.
