US Elections Jeopardy
The Electoral College, primaries, voting rights amendments, Election Day and who can run, for a civics class. Strictly non-partisan, free to copy, phone buzzers.
6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone
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The Electoral College
- $200
A candidate needs at least this many electoral votes to win the presidency.
What is 270?
- $400
This is the total number of electors in the Electoral College.
What is 538?
- $600
A state's number of electors equals its seats in the House plus this number, one for each senator.
What is two?
- $800
When the House chooses the president because no one won a majority of electoral votes, each state delegation casts this many votes.
What is one?
- $1,000
In 1824 the House of Representatives chose this candidate as president over Andrew Jackson.
Who is John Quincy Adams?
Primaries and Conventions
- $200
Instead of a primary, some states choose nominees at these in-person meetings where voters gather and declare their support.
What are caucuses?
- $400
A primary open only to voters registered with that party is called this type.
What is a closed primary?
- $600
Delegates formally nominate a party's candidate for president at this gathering held the summer before the election.
What is the national convention?
- $800
This name is given to the spring day when the largest number of states hold primaries at once.
What is Super Tuesday?
- $1,000
In 1831 this short-lived third party held the first national presidential nominating convention, in Baltimore.
What is the Anti-Masonic Party?
Voting Rights Amendments
- $200
Ratified in 1920, this amendment guaranteed women the right to vote.
What is the 19th Amendment?
- $400
Ratified in 1971, this amendment lowered the voting age to 18.
What is the 26th Amendment?
- $600
Ratified in 1870, this amendment barred denying the vote on account of race or color.
What is the 15th Amendment?
- $800
Ratified in 1964, this amendment banned poll taxes in federal elections.
What is the 24th Amendment?
- $1,000
Ratified in 1961, this amendment gave residents of Washington, D.C., electoral votes for president.
What is the 23rd Amendment?
Election Day
- $200
Federal Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in this month.
What is November?
- $400
Americans elect a president every this many years.
What is four?
- $600
Set by the 20th Amendment, this January date is when a newly elected president takes the oath of office.
What is January 20?
- $800
This officeholder presides over the joint session of Congress where the electoral votes are counted.
Who is the vice president?
- $1,000
Election Day can fall no earlier than November 2 and no later than this date.
What is November 8?
Congress on the Ballot
- $200
All 435 seats in this chamber are up for election every two years.
What is the House of Representatives?
- $400
A US senator is elected to a term of this many years.
What is six?
- $600
This name is given to the general elections held halfway through a president's term.
What are midterm elections?
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Ratified in 1913, this amendment let voters elect senators directly instead of leaving it to state legislatures.
What is the 17th Amendment?
- $1,000
Every two years, about this fraction of the Senate is up for election.
What is one-third?
Who Can Run
- $200
The Constitution says a president must be at least this old.
What is 35?
- $400
A US senator must be at least this old.
What is 30?
- $600
Ratified in 1951, this amendment limits a president to being elected twice.
What is the 22nd Amendment?
- $800
Along with being 35, a president must have lived in the United States for at least this many years.
What is 14?
- $1,000
A member of the House must have been a US citizen for at least this many years.
What is seven?
Final Jeopardy — The Constitution
Ratified in 1804 after the tied election of 1800, this amendment had electors cast separate votes for president and vice president.
What is the 12th Amendment?
How to run this board
Election season raises more questions than a textbook chapter answers, and this board takes students through the machinery rather than the candidates. Categories cover the Electoral College, primaries and conventions, the amendments that widened the vote, the calendar of Election Day and Inauguration Day, elections for Congress, and the Constitution's rules on who can run.
There is no current politics anywhere on the board, so it plays the same in any year and in any classroom. The Voting Rights Amendments column is worth slowing down on: putting the 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th side by side shows how long it took for the vote to reach everyone it reaches today.
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