Exercise 1

Go to http://www.fec.gov/pages/2000turnout/reg&to00.htm. After examining the table and reading the key at the bottom of the table, answer the following questions:

1. Which state had the highest turnout of the voting-age population in the 2000 elections?



2. Which state had the largest voting-age population in 2000?



3. What is the only state that allows election-day registration at the polls?



4. Which state had the highest turnout of registered voters in the 2000 elections?

Exercise 2

The connection between political contributions and voting records is hotly debated. Learn more about who is contributing to your U.S. Representative (or Senator) by logging onto the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics (http://www.opensecrets.org).

In the box marked “Find A Politician,” type in the name of your U.S. Representative (or Senator); then click “Go.” Below the person’s name on the next page, click on “Campaign Finance Profiles” to see the contributions raised by this person. Now go to the top of the page and click on “The Big Picture,” which summarizes the average amounts spent by House and Senate challengers and incumbents. This will provide a context within which to evaluate the funds generated and used by your U.S. Representative (or Senator). After reviewing this material, answer the following questions:

1. How do the numbers for your elected official compare with the overall averages listed in The Big Picture?
   
   On the right side of the page is a dark box with a list of the Representative’s (Senator’s) committee assignments. Click on the name of each committee to see a list of the top sectors contributing to members of that committee. Then go back to the preceding page. On the left there is a vertical bar with links to other statistics for the Representative (Senator). Click on “List PAC Contributions.” This will give you a list of PAC contributions to your legislator broken down by sector.



2. Compare the sources of PAC contributions received by this legislator with the sources of PAC contributions to the legislator’s committees.



3. How do these lists compare and contrast, and what are the implications?