As members of the Church, we have a special obligation to serve and support our government leaders. It is our duty to seek out opportunities to become informed citizens and to obey laws and rules.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Now, I want to say to you, and I say it with a plea in my heart, get involved…The problem with most of us is that we are afraid. We want to do the right thing, but we are troubled by fears and the world drifts about us…’Be not afraid, only believe.’ I commend you these wonderful words of the Lord as you think of your responsibilities and opportunities.”

During a Presidential election year, we vote for a person to have the following authority:

(1)Serve as commander in chief of the armed forces
(2) Grant pardons for federal offenses
(3) Assemble Congress in special sessions
(4) Take meetings with ambassadors
(5) Appoint officials and control “executive power” of the country

(The US Constitution).

With all of those important duties, it is no wonder our Church leaders encourage us to get involved. But with all the different candidates to choose from, how do you really decide?

Research
Making a informed decision requires you do your homework. Read each of the candidates' literature to get a feel on their take of the issues. Each candidate for president has a website stating their positions on several subjects facing our nation. For example, to find out what Wesley Clark believes or feels, go to americansforclark.com and click on the left hand button, “On The Issues” (See the complete list of candidate websites listed in the sidebar).

The Presidential Process

Each election is comprised of two elections -- the primary or caucus and the general election.

Selecting a Candidate for Each Party

Primaries
A primary is one way for each party to select a candidate. Some states like New Hampshire, hold their elections early in the election year, arguing that holding their primaries early will help shape the outcome of all the primaries.

Caucus
Another way to select a candidate is to hold a caucus. Iowa chooses to select their candidate this way. A caucus is a meeting of legislators of any one party to discuss parliamentary strategy and party policy. During the Iowa caucus in January, members of the Iowa Democrat party choose their candidate for president.

General Election
After the primaries and caucuses are held, candidates campaign for your vote in the the general election in November. The general election for the Presidency is held every four years, with a two-term limit on the office. During the general election, two types of votes will be cast -- the popular vote and the electoral vote.

Popular Vote
The popular vote is the actual votes that American citizens cast in the battle box.

Electoral Vote
The electoral vote refers to the votes cast by electors, those people chosen by the political parties in each state. This is often referred to as the electoral college.

In the general election, the popular vote happens first. It is the people's voice to the electors telling them who they want for the office. Then, the electoral college cast their votes. The presidency is determined by the candidate that receives the most electoral votes. Therefore, a candidate that receives more popular votes may not win the election.

Some voters are under the misconception that the electors must vote as the populous did. This is not true. The electors are free to vote for whomever they deem worthy. This hardly ever happens, though, as those that choose the electors choose ones who would vote as the populous.

The number of electors who can vote is determined by the number of Senators and House Members that state sends to Congress. Each state has two members of the Senate, but could have several House Members, or as little as one.

If the electoral college ultimately decides the presidency, then why does our involvement even matter? In Helaman 5:2, we find this warning about what can happen when we don’t get involved in our government:

“For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.”

Cheryll Lynn May in, “Beyond Voting: Some Duties of the LDS Citizen” (Ensign, June 1976), said, “…no constitution or set of protective laws is self-executing. Guarantees of political freedom maintain their force only if citizens are willing to exercise that freedom in their own behalf. If men and women of character fail to participate in the political decisions that shape their lives, others with more selfish motives will inevitably rush in to fill the void.”

Does our vote count? Some experts have this to say:

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote, " said George Nathan.

"Lower voter participation is a silent threat to our democracy...It under-represents young people, the poor, the disabled, those with little education, minorities and you and me," Nancy Neuman said.

It is our duty and right to have knowledge about and participate as fully as we can, in our respective governments.

Martin Luther King Jr., said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Are we becoming silent about things that matter to us as women and as citizens of this world? Make sure your voice is heard. Educate yourself on the issues and make a difference.

Election Vocab

Absentee Voting
At any election a qualified voter may vote an absentee ballot for any reason. There are four ways to vote absentee: in person, by mail, by personal representative (special needs voting) or by fax.

Advisory Vote Election
A vote on a proposition submitted to the electorate to obtain an expression or indication of the voters' feeling about the proposition in which the results are not binding or conclusive.

Ballot
A ticket, paper, etc. by which a vote is registered.

General Election
An election to choose from among candidates who were nominated in a primary election. In an Alaska general election, measures such as initiative petitions also appear on the ballot, as do judges up for retention.

Grand Old Party
The Republican party is sometimes referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP.

Initiative
The procedure by which the lawmaking powers of the legislature are exercised by the people. The initiative process enables a specified number of voters (10 percent of those who voted in the previous general election, who are residents in at least two-thirds of the state's election districts) to propose the enactment or repeal of a law. Voters then determine whether the initiative becomes law.

Limited Political Party
A political group that organizes for the purpose of selecting candidates for electors for president and vice president of the United States.

Nonpartisan Voter
A voter who does not affiliate with a particular political party.

Over-Vote
An over-vote is a ballot marked for more candidates than allowed in a particular race. For example, if a voter votes for two candidates in a race that says, "Vote for one," the vote will not be counted for either candidate.

Partial-Count Ballot
A ballot that can be counted only for certain races because the voter voted in a district in which he or she was not registered. In such cases, statewide races and ballot measures count. If the voter votes within his or her state Senate district, the Senate race will count if the voter is registered in either of the two House districts that share the Senate district. All voters whose ballots are partially counted will have voted either an absentee or questioned ballot.

Primary Election
An election held to nominate candidates for state executive and state and national legislative offices by direct vote of the people. There are two basic types of primary elections, a third type that varies, and a fourth type the U. S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 2000:

Open Primary
Voters request a ballot for a particular party regardless of their own party registration but may not cross back and forth to vote for candidates of different parties.

Closed Primary
Voters may choose only among candidates of the party in which they are registered. Those who decline to state a party preference are ineligible to vote in partisan races such as for governor, Congress and the legislature.

Modified Open or Closed Primary
Independents (nonpartisans or undeclareds) may vote in a political party's primary if that party so allows. Alaska now has this type of primary.

Proposition
A general term for an initiative, referendum or constitutional amendment that goes to the public for a vote.

Question
An issue placed on the ballot to determine whether a judge or justice shall be accepted or rejected, whether a constitutional convention shall be called, whether a state debt shall be contracted, or whether a state official shall be recalled.

Recall
The recall is the procedure by which the people may recall the governor, the lieutenant governor, and members of the state legislature.

Referendum
The procedure by which the people approve or reject a measure passed by the legislature. The referendum petition must be filed within 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session at which the act was passed.

Registration
All voters must be registered. In order to register, a person must be a United States citizen and 18 years of age or older. In order to vote, a registered voter must be a resident of the state and of the election district in which he or she seeks to vote for at least 30 days prior to an election.

-The Alaskan Division of Elections & Polisci.nelson.com/glossary.html