BY KERISA BROWN
With the presidential election coming up in about a month, there is much debate in the news about election integrity. One of these hot-button topics is things like the validity of mail-in voting, etc. Additionally, in the last few presidential elections, there has been much debate over the electoral college, whether or not it should be abolished, and whether or not an individual’s vote counts (in a non-swing state).
So, what is the electoral college and why is it important? According to the National Archives, the electoral college consists of 538 electors (with a majority of 270 needed to win the election). Each state has one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two Senators. It’s important to note that the electoral college actually determines the winner of the election, not the national popular vote.
The state of Kansas has 6 electoral votes. The state of Kansas also follows a winner-takes-all rule regarding the electoral college, meaning that whichever candidate received a majority of the state’s popular vote takes all of the electoral votes. When asked how the electoral college affects Kansas, FHSU Political Science Professor Lawrence Gould said, “The electoral college tends to discount individual votes in many states. You do not vote directly for a presidential candidate, but you should not let this approach for electing a president discourage you from voting for down-ballot candidates.”
According to 270toWin.com, the state of Kansas has given most of its electoral college votes to the Republican party, with few exceptions. Some argue that in states that historically vote for certain parties consistently, one individual’s vote doesn’t matter anyway. This can cause many people and new voters to be discouraged from voting at all.
When asked what encouragement he might offer to students who are considering not voting, Gould said, “I would tell them when they reach age 18 they will be assigned one of the most powerful tools and responsibilities in the world: the privilege to vote and have a hand in shaping their future. They must understand the importance of balancing issues and settling. They may not find a candidate that agrees with them on all the issues, but that doesn’t mean they should not vote. Sometimes you have to settle for a candidate you can agree with on most issues.”
For many college students, this will be their first time voting in a presidential election. Regarding election preparation advice, Gould says, “I would suggest that first-time voters ensure they are registered and develop a plan for voting. Know where your voting booth is located and review the people running for office before you head into the polling booth. Go to the Secretary of State website in your state and check out the information and directions. Locally, you can go to the web site of the American Democracy Project. Use a diversity of sources to collect information about candidates and issues. Do not use one source and understand that you may have to work to avoid misinformation and alternative realities generated on the internet. “
For more information on the candidates and updates on the election, be sure to check out other recent Tiger Media Network stories:
http://tigermedianet.com/?p=56500
http://tigermedianet.com/?p=56484
http://tigermedianet.com/?p=56478
Link to story record:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ew5QxoI0Nm1LWWRirCGNjz7YakTxCZICx94T2GIZDcY/edit?usp=sharing
This is an excellent story! I think it just needs a stronger purpose to help you better incorporate the quotes from Larry Gould. I would suggest reviewing Chapter 8 of the News Manual, on Quotes, before you start revising this. Below, I’ve included a few excerpts that I think are concepts that could be applied to make this article sing.
Thanks for remembering the story record! I noticed you did not include a date. I would think there is at least one date relevant to this story. Give that some thought and revise your record to reflect it when you work on revising the story.
Chapter 8 link: https://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%201/volume1_08.htm
The key take-away from the chapter that I think can improve this article is to find a balance between the quotes and other sentences. Here are a few places where The Manual elaborates on that:
Quotes in the rest of the story
If you are going to quote a speech or a personal interview, never leave the first quote later than the third or fourth paragraph of the story. If you cannot find a quote strong enough to go that high, you should question the value of covering the speech or doing the interview in the first place.
How often should you use quotes?
Although quotes bring a story alive, it is still possible to kill a good story by carelessness, particularly over-repetition. It is like smothering a meal with sauce, drowning the taste of the meat. Each quote must earn its place in the story. Do not put in strings of quotes simply because you have them in your notebook.
Alternate quotes and reported speech, choosing those quotes which are especially strong and rewriting in reported speech those which are either too complicated or too long. Just because someone said something does not mean that they have expressed themselves well or clearly. If the quote is likely to confuse your readers or spoil the rest of the story, turn the words into reported speech. As we said earlier, very few people are able to compress ideas into sentences better than a good journalist can.
[When it comes to writing quotes]
You should always start a new paragraph for a direct quote. If you have started a quote and continue to quote in the next paragraph, you do not need to close the quotes before going on to the next par, though you should start the new paragraph with inverted commas. See how we leave out the quotation mark after the first paragraph but include it at the beginning of the second:
Mr Raukele said: “It is not something I ever expected to happen in this country in my lifetime.
“I have to admit that it came as a complete surprise.”