Election Trivia 2024

ELECTION TRIVIA

NOVEMBER 2024

AHHS LIBRARY

Elections Trivia

How muchdo you know?

Test your knowledge on the history & process of electing a new president.

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 1 of 10

How is election day determined?

Congress designated it to be the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

November 5th was determined in the Constitution to always be Election Day.

It is always 90 days before Inaguration Day.

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 1 of 10

Correct!

Why a Tuesday in November?

By an act of Congress on January 23, 1845, the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November was designated Election Day for future presidential elections. Back then, we were more of an agricultural society, and November was considered a good time for elections because the busy harvest season was coming to a close. Many country folks had to travel quite a long way to get to a polling station, so it made sense to hold elections on a Tuesday. This avoided religious holidays as well. Source: almanac.com

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 2 of 10

Abraham Lincoln

John. F. Kennedy

Theodore Roosevelt

Ronald Reagan

Which U.S. president has recieved the greatest number of electoral votes?

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 2 of 10

Correct!

Ronald Reagan, in the 1984 election, won a whopping 525 out of 538 available electoral votes.

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 3 of 10

When were women given the right to vote in the United States ?

July 4, 1776

November 5, 1920

August 26, 1920

April 9, 1872

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 3 of 10

You're right!

Women get the vote in 1920!

Women were given the right to vote on August 26, 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Formerly known as Woman Suffrage Day, August 26 is now recognized as “Women’s Equality Day.” Ratification came in Tennessee, where suffragist (Anitia) Lili Pollitzer, age 25, persuaded Tennessee state legislator Harry T. Burn, age 24, to cast the deciding vote. “I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for a boy to follow,” he said, “and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.” The country’s 26 million voting-age women were enfranchised by this change in the Constitution. Longtime suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt summed up her experiences in the battle this way: “Never in the history of politics has there been such a nefarious lobby as labored to block the ratification.” Upon ratification, Catt founded the League of Women Voters, an organization now dedicated to providing impartial, in-depth information about candidates, platforms, and ballot issues. Source: almanac.com

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 4 of 10

Which one of these is not a requirement to be the President of the United States?

You must be a natural born citizen of the United States.

You must be at least 35 years old.

You must have a college degree.

You must have been a resident of the United States for the last 14 years.

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 4 of 10

It's correct!

The qualifications are few!

From the Constitution: Article II, Section 1, Clause 5: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. Source: constitution.congress.gov

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 5 of 10

Carter vs Ford

Kennedy vs Nixon

Ford vs Reagan

Which candidates' debate was televised for the first time?

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 5 of 10

Correct!

The first televised presidential debates were in 1960.

The Vice President was Richard M. Nixon and the U.S. Senator was John F. Kennedy. Their first televised debate shifted how presidential campaigns were conducted, as the power of television took elections into American’s living rooms. The debate was watched live by 70 million Americans and it made politics an electronic spectator sport. It also gave many potential voters their first chance to see actual presidential candidates in a live environment, as potential leaders. Going into the debate, Nixon was slated to win, but because he had just been hospitalized and refused to wear make-up, the young and attractive JFK stole the show. The next day, polls showed Kennedy had become the slight favorite in the general election, and he defeated Nixon by one of the narrowest margins in history that November. Before the debate, Nixon led by six percentage points in the national polls. Source: constitutioncenter.org

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ELECTION TRIVIA

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 6 of 10

Who was the only person to serve as President & Vice President without being elected to either office?

Gerald Ford

Lyndon B. Johnson

Grover Cleveland

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 6 of 10

Gerald Ford is the only person who served as president and vice president without being elected to either office.

Correct!

His 895-day term in office is also the shortest in US history for any president who did not die in office. Ford was appointed as vice president by President Nixon in 1973 after Spiro Agnew resigned from the position. Less than a year later, Nixon resigned from the presidency after the Watergate scandal and Gerald Ford assumed the presidency. Source: history.com

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 7 of 10

90-100% of voters

40-50% of voters

20-30% of voters

50-60% of voters

What is the average percentage of the total voters that cast ballots in a typical presidential election?

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 7 of 10

Correct!

50-60% of voters cast a ballot in presidential elections.

Since the 1950s, about 50-60% of eligible voters cast a ballot in presidential elections. In 2016 it was just over 60%. About two-thirds (66%) of the voting-eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate for any national election since 1900. Sources: today.cofc.edu & pewresearch.org

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 8 of 10

Which states do felons never lose their right to vote?

California & Colorado

Hawaii & Alaska

Maine & Vermont

Illinois & Indiana

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 8 of 10

You're right!

Felons in both Maine and Vermont are allowed to vote and have been allowed since those states were founded in 1820 and 1872, respectively.

Source: farmersalmanac.com

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 9 of 10

When did the legal voting age officially change from 21 to 18?

1804

1932

1971

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 9 of 10

It's correct!

The legal voting age across the United States was once 21 but in 1943, Georgia became the first state to lower the legal voting age to 18. This became an official part of the U.S. Constitution when the Twenty-Sixth Amendment was ratified in 1971.

Source: farmersalmanac.com

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ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 10 of 10

320

300

270

How many electoral votes does a candidate need to secure victory in the electoral college?

ELECTION TRIVIA

Question 10 of 10

Correct!

A candidate needs the vote of at least 270 electors—more than half of all electors—to win the presidential election.

Each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress (House and Senate). Including Washington, D.C.’s three electors, there are currently 538 electors in all. Each state’s political parties choose their own slate of potential electors. Who is chosen to be an elector, how, and when varies by state. Source: usa.gov

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Well Done :)

You know your stuff! Here's to keeping democracy alive & making sure our voices are heard by voting!

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