MAP

MAP

Voter Registration Strategies and Percentages

Voter Registration Strategies and Percentages

In the United States, voter registration changes throughout the years. Have students use this map to look at American voter registration in 1990 to facilitate discussions on what has changed since then and why.

Grades

5 - 8

Subjects

Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, Civics

















NGS Resource Carousel Loading Logo
Loading ...

Ideas for Use in the Classroom

Before introducing this topic to the class, review the resources, which can be used to answer questions about how various states in the United States handle voter registration and ideas for increasing voter registration and turnout in the present-day. Consider choosing one resource for registration and another for participation, and then dividing those resources among small groups or pairs to report back to the class. Alternatively, have each group skim a different resource to pull out the most interesting/important information. Groups can be formed and resources can be assigned based on the students’ learning styles and capabilities.

Begin with the map “Voter Registration in the U.S., 1990.” As a class, review the legend and discuss any patterns the data shows. What questions does the map raise for them? What do they think may have changed since 1990? (The students may refer to: the demographic changes, the fact that the United States has since had its first black president, or the changes in voter registration laws.) Set the map aside and proceed to the student review of the resources.

After the students have viewed and discussed the assigned resources, discuss the following topics:

  • Current voter registration data and analysis
  • Current participation data and analysis
  • Change since 1990


Work as a class to list 1) issues the students see with the way voter registration is currently handled, 2) their thoughts about the initiatives, and 3) how they think registration links to participation. Finally, take a class vote on what the students think are the best ideas for increasing A) voter registration and B) voter participation. If you like, you could run this final segment as a formal meeting, using Robert’s Rules of Order, and have students nominate, second, debate, and vote on ideas.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Director
Tyson Brown, National Geographic Society
Author
National Geographic Society
Production Managers
Gina Borgia, National Geographic Society
Jeanna Sullivan, National Geographic Society
Program Specialists
Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society, National Geographic Society
Margot Willis, National Geographic Society
Producer
Clint Parks
Intern
Roza Kavak
other
Last Updated

October 1, 2024

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

Media

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Related Resources