Legislative Preview & How a bill becomes a law

Legislative Preview & How a bill becomes a law.

Below are the links we are going to cover in class:

http://legis.state.sd.us/General/guide.htm#Legislators


http://legis.state.sd.us/index.aspx


http://www.sdpb.org/


Take ten minutes to look over the links and then in your blog, describe what your views are on the materials that we covered.  Provide a paragraph of reflection on what areas you had prior knowledge of and those that you did not.

Before viewing these links there was a lot i didn't know, i thought that when they passed a bill that they would either let it pass or "kill it" as the term for vetoing it is. I found out that it has to go through the House of Repesentatives and the Senate, and it has to get the majority vote, but the Governor does have the final say. It is a very long process for a bill to become a law, and it does take time, but in emergency situations they can hurry the process, otherwise bills dont become laws till July 1. 

How a bill becomes a law:
This is provided for you as a study guide to be able to learn the process of how a bill becomes a law.

http://svseniorgov.wikispaces.com/How+a+bill+becomes+a+law

Quiz Chapter 7

1. Explain the difference between hard and soft money:Soft money is given to a party such as Democratic or Republican and there aren't limits on soft money they are donations. Hard money is fundraised and has a limit.
2. What is the electoral process and is this something that you agree or disagree with and why?
The electoral process is that we nominate candidates then have a primary election.  The candidates that win move onto the real election.  I agree with it because it is a process that we need to make sure we get someone that is right for our country.

3. What is the difference between a closed and open primary?
A closed primary is a primary election where only people of the party that is being voted on can vote.  An open primary is a primary election where anyone can vote on either party.

4. Explain what absentee voting is and what the positives and negative may be with regards to it:
Absentee voting is voting before the election and it is a ballot that is mailed in.  Most people use absentee voting if they cant be there on election day due to illness or if they are out of the country, but over the years more and more people are using this. Postive side to it is that people are actually voting instead of just not. Negative side to it is that people could tamper with it.

5. What changes to your see in the way we run elections ten years from now?I think that 10 years from now everything will be done electronicly. Maybe even having an option of online voting so people dont even need to leave there houses.
6. Explain your views on money and elections with regards the amount of money that is spent:
I think that money is important to an election because without advertisements people wouldn't have a good way of knowing who their voting for. I think there should be a limit on how much money a candidate is allowed to spend.

7. Go to cnn.com or foxnews.com and find an article dealing with the election process.  Post the article in your blog and provide your viewpoints pertaining to the article.

LANSING, Mich. —

A recount has upheld Republican Kurt Damrow's narrow victory over Democratic state Rep. Terry Brown of Pigeon in last month's election.

Election officials say Thursday that Brown fell 18 votes short of Damrow in the recount for the 84th state House district covering Huron and Tuscola counties. Election officials said some precincts could not be recounted mainly because of problems related to sealing containers holding ballots.

Brown said the recount will provide opportunities to improve the election process related to how ballots are handled.

Official election results certified earlier this month had Damrow winning by 30 votes before the recount. More than 30,000 votes were cast in the race.

Brown was among the Democratic incumbents swept out of office by a strong Republican showing in the 2010 election

This goes to show that the election process is not exact. They do make some mistakes to cuz not everything can be perfect, as this has showed.

Chapter 6 Test

1.  Provide a paragraph on an important issue of your choice from Section 1:

The main point in chapter one is the right to vote. It talks about the suffrage people had to face while trying to extend the suffrage by allowing all sexes to vote. The next stage was letting the African Americans vote in the 1960's.  Finally, we took the step of setting the age limit, 18 and over were givin the right to vote.

2.  Provide a paragraph on an important issue of your choice from Section 2:

The main issue in Chapter 2 was the voters qualifications it needed to have in order to vote. There are 3 main factors: citizenship, residence, and age.  You need to also be registered to present identification in the voting. You have to be able to read and write, also have shown tax payment. These all have to be inforced during a time of voting.



3.  Provide a paragraph on an important issue of your choice from Section 3:

In Chapter 3 Suffrage and Civil Rights were the main topic. Talking about different admendments over the years. starting with the 15th: the right to vote cannot be denied to any citizen of the US because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It was a long battle for the African Americans to gain to full freedom they deserved.  It was especially hard in the South were many civil rights acts took place, But the African Americans did gain there voting rights in the 1960's finally.



4.  Provide a paragraph on an important issue of your choice from Section 4:

Why do people not vote?  There are some people in the US that are known as the "cannot-voters" which have not met one of many requirments to become a voter. Then there are the actual nonvoters which think that it doesnt matter and that there one vote wont do much anyways. All these millions of people that dont vote do impact the turnout.  Also things that impact the outcome is income, occupation, education, gender, age, religious, ethnic background, geography, and family. There are many psychological factors that also play into the turnout.



5. Explain voter apathy and what can be done to help it:

Voter apathy is something that is a problem, its when people dont want to vote. I think people need to set out there over commercials and ads that voting is a good thing that is a way to get your opinion across. We need to show the importance of every single persons vote, because one vote does matter.



6. Explain the qualifications for registering to vote:

The qualifications to vote require citizenship, residence, and age as the top three. Other requirements include registation for identification. People that intent to vote must also be literate, and have shown tax payment. Its not to hard to become a registered voter, so all people should do it.

Assignment- Election Views

The elections locally in South Dakota we very close between Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and Kristi Noem, i personally believe Stephanie Herseth would have been a better choice, she has more experience, more backround, and wisdom when it comes to politics. But, Kristi Noem did make very good points about Medicare, and what her plans are to do when she gets into the house. She does openly discuss what she believes and gave Stephanie a good run for her money, now us people are just gunna have to wait and she what she has in store for us in the future.

Nation wide the Tea party has grown and now members of that party are even up for election. In Kentucky, the newest Senater Rand Paul has made it obvious that he does not trust either republicans nor democrats. He talks about how he wants to shrink the government from the inside and if he has to take on the democrats and the republicans. Now personally, i believe that it wouldnt be a bad thing to have three different opions in the house. but, as we can see the tea party, or independant nominees are slim, and not made a total difference yet, but it has grown in the past years, and who knows what it will look like in 10, 20 years.

Assignment #1

What are your views on the latest political ads on TV?  What candidate(s) do you like or dislike and why?

I have seen many ads for Stephanie Herseth, Kristi Noem, Dennis Dugaurd, and Scott Hiedpreim. I personally dont know much about any of these people, but i do think that the way the ads are advertising for people are getting more and more competitive. People say that Stephanie is a great democrat, but how do we know if her views are going to help out everyone or just favor to one side. But we also dont know what Noem has to bring to the floor either.




What role do you feel that you will play in politics and government in the future?  What ways are you participating currently?


I think that i will always look into the canidates before i vote for them, but other than that i really dont know how i will play a role in government later in life.  Currently, i dont play any roles into the politics or gov. because im not 18 yet. So, i guess i havent really had much interest in all of that.

Senior Gov.

This blog is gunna be used for my senior gov. assignments.......