Questions

DIRECTIONS:  For the bolded part of each statement, circle the correct answer. (10 points each) (10 points each)

1. Ballot measures in the 2016 election include questions on legalizing marijuana, increasing taxes on tobacco, the death penalty and minimum wage. Ballot measures are questions or issues that appear on ballots where voters can approve or reject them. Ballot measures are a form of direct democracy / representative democracy practiced by various states.

2. Citizen ballot measures are broken down into two categories: initiatives and referendums. The other type of ballot measure is a legislative measure - a question placed on the ballot by U.S. Congress / state lawmakers where they ask citizens to vote on proposed legislation.

3. Thirty-four Senate seats will be voted on in the 2016 election. The current makeup of the Senate is 54 to 44, with two Independents. Republicans / Democrats currently hold the majority in the Senate.

4. Close Senate races being watched include those in Wisconsin, Indiana, Arizona and Florida / Hawaii.

5. The Colonial pipeline is a 5,500-mile system that supplies gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to 13 states from Houston to New York, It is the largest U.S. refined products pipeline system. It carries 2.5 million barrels of fuel a day, supplying about 4% / 40% of the gasoline consumed on the East Coast.

6. An accident at the Colonial pipeline near Birmingham, Alabama this week caused a massive fire, killing one worker and injuring others. Due to this accident customers might see fuel shortages or decreased / increased prices.

7. A political party’s platform gives voters a sense of the type of philosophy that will prevail if that party’s candidate is elected president: at the Department of Health and Human Services, at the Department of Justice, in the Surgeon General’s office, in the federal courts, in the Supreme Court, and in thousands of other positions in many local school boards / federal agencies.

8. A comparison of the Democratic and Republican party platforms show how similar / different the two parties’ views are on most major issues.

9. The ACLU this week requested that a judge allow voters to take selfies in the voting booth / sell their votes on the grounds that the current 100 year old law has a “chilling effect” on voters’ free speech. The ACLU’s attorney said, "We think they have the right to do that.”

10. The current law banning photos has been on the books for more than a century. It states, “After the ballot is marked, a voter shall not show it to any person in such a way as to reveal its contents.” The law was intended to protect a voter's secret ballot and prevent voter intimidation or vote-buying / ballot stuffing.