September 22 is National Voter Registration Day.
Yes, you read that right.
As impossible as it may be to believe given that March felt like it lasted roughly a thousand years by itself, we’re entering the last quarter of 2020--which means that in less than two months, we’ll be holding a presidential election.
Some of you may already be prepared, comfortable in the knowledge that you know everything you need to know about civics and US elections. If that’s the case, then we tip our respective hats to you.
For those of you who have started to feel claustrophobic just hearing the word “election” in anticipation of the information overload--trust us, we understand. Especially in the year 2020, combing through the news often feels like the mental equivalent of getting tossed under a dump truck even if you already have a good baseline knowledge of the US government.
But what if you don’t?
Don't worry! Whether it’s you who needs to brush up on the ins and outs of civics and politics or a whole (virtual) classroom full of students who need to understand how it all works, we got you.
For Educators & Parents:
- iCivics is an excellent resource for K-12 from which features games, lesson plans, WebQuests, infographics, and more.
- PBS Learning: Election Collection is an ideal tool to help teach and learn the history and process of elections with videos, activities, and lesson plans.
- Scholastic Elections has activities, information, lesson plans, and book recommendations for Pre-K to Grade 10 for topics including campaigning, mock elections, and news literacy.
- Young Voter's Guide to Social Media & the News from Common Sense Media is also a great, no-nonsense collection of resources for helping children and teens understand voting as well as what they can do to make their voices heard even if they aren’t eligible to vote yet.
- Vote by Design was developed by educators at Stanford and is an immersive, non-partisan, digital learning experience designed to promote civic engagement, agency and action among all voters, and particularly next gen voters.
For All Learners:
- Y'all Vote is Mississippi’s online voter information center as approved by the Secretary of State, Michael Watson.
- Crash Course: US Government & Politics is a playlist created and curated by PBS’s CrashCourse channel and includes 50 short, entertaining videos on US politics.
- How to Vote: 7 Simple Steps for Ballot Beginners from Public Service Degrees is a handy how-to for new voters.
- Rock the Vote is a one-stop shop for the basics of election information and what you need to know to get started on your journey to becoming civically engaged.
- Resources for Voters with Disabilities from the US Election Assistance Commission is a roundup of accessibility aids from the independent bipartisan commission charged with developing guidance to meet Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA).
- Voting, Accessibility, and the Law from the National Federation of the Blind contains The Blind Voter's Guide to Voting in English for Word, BRF, and audio and in Spanish for Word and BRF. It also offers voting guides for young people who are Blind and videos on the Blind Voter Experience.
Want more information? Don’t forget to check out the books, videos, and digital tools available here at the Mississippi Library Commission and at your local library!
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