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Lesson Plan in the
Glades County Elections Case
"Do at-large election methods affect
the voting rights of minorities?"
Purpose
The purpose of this lesson plan is to help students understand
American election methods and understand how certain election methods
have historically and continue to further discrimination.
Grade
9-12
Objectives
Students should be able to:
- Identify the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- Recognize the difference between at-large and single-member district election methods
- Understand the effects each election method could have on a minority candidate and a minority population
Materials
- Text of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
- Text of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- Contents of the June 2000 Case of the Month, including the complaint filed in Thompson et al. v. Glades County Board of County Commissioners et al.
Activities
- The teacher will give an overview of voting rights in the American system and explain how they were guaranteed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
- The class will study the era of Reconstruction in American history and the development of "Jim Crow" laws, especially the various devices that have been used to deny racial minorities the right to vote or to dilute the effectiveness of the vote
- As a class exercise, the teacher will assign students in the class a special team color: purple or red. Almost all students in the class will be on the purple team; a handful will be on the red team. The students will work hard at invoking team spirit -- a song, a logo, etc. Then, the teacher will hold a mock election in which two students (one from the red team and one from the purple team) run against each other to be the leaders. There is only one elected position open, so all students in the class must elect only one of the two students running. After the election, presuming the class will elect the student on the purple team and not the student on the red team, the teacher will discuss how this "at-large" system of electing a team leader compares to the at-large method of real elections (perhaps using the Glades County Elections case from the June 2000 Case of the Month as a teaching tool). The teacher will raise questions about how this system can be made more fair.
- As a follow-up class exercise, the class will divide into their original red or purple teams again. The teacher will then allow the reds to vote for the best red team leader and the purples to vote for the best purple team leader. After the election, the teacher will ask the class whether this "single-member district" system made the election more fair.
- For homework, the teacher will have each student pretend they are a member of a minority group running for office in an at-large system. Each student will write a letter to a friend describing any difficulties they believe they may face in trying to get elected.
