Know Your Representatives
Portfolio Project
 
For this project, you will create a portfolio of your elected officials on each level of government.
 
Portfolio Contents
 
Candidate Profiles
You must identify the following representatives (6 total):

• County legislator - Steven Rhoads
• State assemblyman - David McDonough 
• State senator - John Brooks
• U.S. Representative - Kathleen Rice
• U.S. Senators (2) - Charles Schumer and Kristen Gilibrand

 
Create a 1-page profile for each representative that includes the following:

1. political affiliation
2. number of years in the position.
3. background (personal, educational, professional)
4. stances on 3 issues
5. current event

 
 
This project is worth 100 points and is due on Friday, April 5. 
 
You can use the politician’s website for information.  You may need to use another search engine for your initial research. The following websites are good starting points:
 
https://ballotpedia.org/Elected_Officials_Lookup
 
http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_list_page
 
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/
 
https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/504/Legislators
 
https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
 

Voting in state, local, and federal elections is an integral component of democratic citizenship.  Yet, in most elections over a third of the electorate chooses not to vote.  For this project you will analyze the reasons for low voter turnout and propose solutions for encouraging more people to vote.
 
Requirements: Working with a partner, you must do the following:
 
Write a 2-3 page research paper that discusses (70 points)

• ​the importance of voting (historically and currently)
• groups that are most likely to vote or not to vote (include statistics)
• reasons for low voter turnout in the United States (why don't people vote?)
• strategies for increasing voter turnout

 
Create a Flyer or Pamphlet that encourages young people to vote in the next election.  Your flyer/pamphlet must be creative and include the following… (30 points) 

• how to register
• when is Election Day?
  
• the importance of voting
• young voter participation in past elections
• reasons young people don’t vote
• strategies to encourage young voter turnout
• a catchy slogan and/or logo

 
DUE: Friday, March 15
 
Websites: You may find the following websites helpful.
 
http://www.census.gov/topics/public-sector/voting.html
http://civicyouth.org/
http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/votestats.html
http://www.fairvote.org/voter-turnout
http://www.rockthevote.com
http://www.electioncenter.org/
 
Your paper must be double-spaced and written in Times New Roman 12 point font.  In addition, you must conduct research for this paper and cite your sources.  Plagiarism, of course, will result in a zero.