# Elections with Ballotpedia

An episode of [The Children's Hour](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1373480705), 25 Oct 2026, 59 min.

Audio: https://media.blubrry.com/childrenshour/ins.blubrry.com/childrenshour/TCH_Elections_podcast.mp3

This week on The Children’s Hour, we learn about elections with our friends at Ballotpedia. We'll be talking about how elections work at all levels, from your town all the way up through the whole country! This civics podcast for kids comes with a free learning guide. Get inspired by the right to vote and learn with us about elections. Find the learning guide and activities at https://childrenshour.org/elections-ballotpedia

## Transcript

[0:01] Coming up on the Children's Hour, how do our elections in the United States work? We'll
[0:06] meet Leslie Graves, the Executive Director of the nonpartisan election information site,
[0:11] Ballotpedia.org. Leslie helps us understand the vocabulary of elections, from ballots
[0:18] to midterms to polls. We'll even take our own poll, and we'll learn why it's sometimes hard
[0:24] to believe when our favorite choice loses. There's a lot to learn about our elections,
[0:30] So we've got a learning guide with this episode full of activities and designed for kids in
[0:35] elementary through middle school. Find it at childrenshour.org. Look for elections. The
[0:41] Children's Hour is an independent production of The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New
[0:45] Mexico based nonprofit. We're distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio
[0:51] network. It's time for The Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio. Where do penguins go to
[1:07] vote? I don't know. The South Pole. It's time for the Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio.
[1:26] Democracy calling, Rock the vote Democracy calling, Rock the vote Liberty calling, Vote,
[1:40] vote, Lady Liberty calling, Vote, vote, vote Rock the vote my sisters, Vote, vote, vote
[1:52] Rock the vote my brothers, vote, vote, vote.
[2:04] you
[2:09] Democracy calling, rock the vote. Democracy calling, rock the vote. Liberty calling,
[2:21] vote, vote, vote. Lady Liberty calling, vote, vote, vote.
[2:36] Rock vote my sisters, vote vote vote Rock the vote my brothers, vote vote vote Rock the
[2:47] vote my sisters, vote vote vote Rock the vote my brothers, vote vote vote
[3:05] Vote, vote, vote. That's Raffi and Lindsay Monroe right here on the Children's Hour. I'm
[3:12] Katie Stone and today we're at Keshet Center for the Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico with
[3:17] a whole lot of great kids and online. Who's with us today? Hi, it's Amaya. Hi, it's Keaton.
[3:24] Hi, it's Fran. Hi, it's Jonah. Hi, it's Monto. Hi, it's Moon. Hi, it's Lily. Thank you all
[3:32] so much for being here online and out in listener land and here at Keshet Center for the Arts
[3:37] in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I am super excited about this show because we're going to be talking
[3:43] about something that everyone is hearing about right now. Elections. Yes. Are you hearing
[3:50] a lot about elections right now? Like people running for office, that kind of thing? No.
[3:56] No? Yes. Yes. How are you hearing about it? Who's hearing about it? Yeah, Monto. I sometimes
[4:02] see some ads. Yeah, ads on television, kind of advertising one candidate or another candidate.
[4:10] Yeah. And sometimes you might notice that your parents might be getting a lot of mail from
[4:16] people saying, vote for me, vote for me. I'm seeing election signs on the road and I hear
[4:24] that there's all kinds of things on our ballots and I'm not. really sure I fully grasp the
[4:29] whole way that elections work all over this country. So today we have with us as a special
[4:35] guest someone from Ballotpedia, Leslie Graves. And we're going to come back to Leslie Graves
[4:41] and learn all about elections. This episode comes with a learning guide. You can find it
[4:46] at ChildrensHour.org. Look for elections. This is the Swing Set Mamas.
[5:04] became the president, then I would write a song To make the people happy, so they all
[5:12] could get along A song that would inspire us to be the best that we can be A song to help
[5:21] the world live in peace
[5:38] I'd take care of the earth and treasure our resources for all that they are worth. We
[5:48] can find a way to renew our energy so we can live green and at your ease. Life is good.
[5:59] Life is good. Life is great. Life is great. We can make a change, it's not too late I'll
[6:09] help you, I'll help you And you help me, you help me Together we can sing our way to peace
[6:20] If I became the president I'd listen and I'd learn To make sure everybody has a voice and
[6:30] gets a turn to vote in our democracy so we can live together and be free. Life is good.
[6:43] Life is good. Life is great. Life is great. We can make a change. It's not too late. I'll
[6:53] help you. I'll help you. You help me. You help me. Together we can sing our way to peace
[7:34] you
[7:44] Together we can sing our way to peace Don't you know it's we the people? Together we can
[7:52] sing our way to Order to form a perfect union It's written in our
[8:20] Sing our way to peace.
[8:35] You're listening to The Children's Hour on Katie Stone. Today on the show, we're learning about
[8:40] elections. Our guest is Leslie Graves. She's the executive director of Ballotpedia. And
[8:47] Ballotpedia is a place that you can go online at ballotpedia.org and learn a whole lot about
[8:53] the elections happening right around you, right now, and in the past. Leslie, thanks for being
[9:00] with us on The Children's Hour. Welcome. Thank you, it's really great to be here. It's causing
[9:04] me to remember back to when I was younger and starting to realize that there were things
[9:10] called elections that the big people got interested in and being kind of confused, but really curious
[9:16] about the whole situation. Yeah, well, what did draw you into being interested in working
[9:22] on election awareness and education? I caught the election bug early on, partly because the
[9:30] adults in my community, including my parents and all of my parents' friends, when we would
[9:34] be heading in toward November, we'd start talking about the upcoming elections constantly at
[9:40] dinner. was a topic of conversation and who they wanted to vote for and what was going
[9:44] on. This was a long time ago. One of the issues that they were really concerned about in Wisconsin,
[9:52] the Dairy State where I live, is whether or not they wanted to vote for politicians who
[9:58] thought that you should be able to add coloring to margarine so that it was the same color
[10:03] as butter. That was a really big, that was a big issue. Yeah. That was on an actual ballot.
[10:09] Like, well, that that issue wasn't. But the state legislators in Wisconsin would be the
[10:15] ones who would have made the decision about that. That's not the kind of decision young
[10:19] people that presidents of the United States make that's made in your state. And there was
[10:24] vicious. controversy about whether you should be able to make margarine look yellow instead
[10:31] of white, which is what it looks like if you don't add coloring to it. So all of the farmers
[10:35] wanted to make it illegal to put coloring in margarine. Wow. And so you're saying that candidates
[10:42] were saying, I'm going to vote to add color to margarine. And other candidates would say,
[10:47] I'm going to vote to not add color to margarine. It was was a really big issue because I grew
[10:52] up in a farm community, so all of our neighbors are farmers and they were really worried about
[10:56] them. Yeah, I bet. Well, we have a lot of questions for you about elections and how they work.
[11:03] And right now, as we're talking, we're heading into an election season in the United States.
[11:12] And there's a lot of people, I think, who don't fully understand how the whole system works
[11:16] and how it's so different from place to place. We want to know a lot. about elections with
[11:21] you, but let's start with Fran. What made you want to be included in stuff like politicians?
[11:28] Well, I'm not a politician now, although I have I have thought about it. Do you ever watch
[11:33] the Olympics and you see people doing gymnastics or diving who are so good, even though they're
[11:39] very young and you realize that was because they got an itch to do that when they were
[11:43] very young. And all of us, as you're going through your youth, you're going to. your young years,
[11:50] you're going to each of you find one or more things that just fascinates you and you can't
[11:55] stop thinking about it. Yeah, I know that that might not have happened for you yet. But for
[12:00] me, it's politics. I just have always loved it. Hmm. What do you love about it? It captures
[12:06] human drama. There are so many aspects of winning and losing. I'd mentioned the Olympics. You
[12:12] know, one of the reasons I like to watch the Olympics is because of the thrill of victory
[12:15] and the agony of defeat. And you get that in politics, but in politics, it matters more
[12:20] who wins and who loses. So big, big outcomes on how we work with each other in our society
[12:28] do depend on who gets elected. It makes a big difference. Yeah, it really does. Monto. What
[12:36] do donkeys and elephants have to do with voting? Oh, I think you're talking about like the symbols
[12:43] that the different parties in the United States use. Is that just something that different
[12:48] parties decided a long time ago that they're going to be like, I'm to be the donkey. I'm
[12:52] going to be the elephant a long, long time ago. So by tradition, the donkey represents the
[12:57] Democratic Party and the elephant represents the Republican Party. And members and politicians
[13:03] of each of those parties would probably be happy if that was the first thing that people thought
[13:09] about when they thought about their party. But instead, people think about what they are standing
[13:14] for. and which they should be thinking about. But yeah, that that has been a tradition for
[13:21] a very long time. That's the voice of Leslie Graves. She's the executive director of Ballotpedia.
[13:27] Ballotpedia is a nonprofit voting election information website. You can access it anytime. It's at
[13:34] Ballotpedia.org. We've got a learning guide with this episode. Find that at ChildrensHour.org.
[13:40] Look for elections. We all don't have to agree But we can still have fun Make a choice and
[13:51] raise your hand Make a choice and shout it out Make a choice and raise your hand Take your
[13:56] vote and count it out Your vote is worth counting Mmm, come on Vote for your favorite thing The
[14:05] group with the most votes wins Think that you wanna steal Or do the hula-hoop Let's all take
[14:11] a vote and see Hula-hoop's just won Make a choice and raise your hand up Make a choice and shout
[14:18] it out Make a choice and raise your hand up Take a vote and shout it out Your vote is worth
[14:24] counting Mmm, come on and vote for your favorite thing Let's vote for what we wanna do Your
[14:31] vote Worth counting, come on and vote for your fate
[14:44] If we like something, if we don't We can try to take a vote Raise your hand or speak your
[14:57] mind What is right, what is kind Let's vote, we can choose Let's vote for me and you Let's
[15:08] vote to make the world a lot better Let's vote, come with me Let's vote officially Let's vote
[15:17] to make the world a lot better
[15:25] can vote on what to play Where to go, what to do today When we're older we'll vote some more
[15:37] On leaders and what we stand for Let's vote, we can choose Let's vote for me and you Let's
[15:47] vote to make the world a lot better Let's vote, come with me Let's vote officially Let's vote
[15:56] to make the world a lot better Let's make this a world that's fair For our neighbors and for
[16:11] our heir A place of love and equality Justice, hope, and possibility Let's vote, we can choose
[16:23] Let's vote for me and you Let's vote to make the world a lot better Let's vote, come with
[16:31] me Let's vote officially Let's vote to make the world a lot better Stand up for what's
[16:44] right Speak up in the night Show up at the site And vote, vote, vote Stand up for what's right.
[17:03] Speak up in the night. Show up at the site and vote, vote, vote. Let's vote. We can choose.
[17:17] Let's vote for me and you. Let's vote to make the world a lot better. Let's vote, come with
[17:26] me Let's vote officially Let's vote to make the world a lot better To make the world a
[17:36] lot better
[17:50] so I
[17:57] me to the polls so I can cast my vote Cast my vote today I've been thinking about the things
[18:06] that mean the most to me The choices and decisions throughout history A single person may not
[18:13] think that they can really have a say But when the votes are counted everyone comes into play
[18:19] Get me to the polls so I can cast my vote Cast my vote Cast my vote me to the pole so I can
[18:29] cast my vote Cast my vote today Gonna exercise my right as a citizen To choose a candidate
[18:40] who'll fight for what I believe in Could the best choice be the guy who's always kissing
[18:46] babies Or maybe it's the one who really loves to kiss the ladies Get me to the pole so I
[18:52] can cast my vote Cast my vote today between chains of law and included all black men. But
[19:02] one man called the suffragettes bought long and hard to win a man at 19 said those women
[19:07] needed voices too. Now all citizens can register. great for me and you. It's great for me and
[19:14] you.
[19:27] me to the pole so I can cast my vote Cast my vote, cast my vote Get me to the pole so I
[19:36] can ca-
[19:40] Yeah
[19:51] That was Danny Weinkauf with Cast My Vote. Miss Katie Sings was before that with Let's Vote
[19:56] and the vote song was Sesame Street. We're learning about elections today on The Children's Hour.
[20:02] You can find a learning guide, our playlist, links, and so much more at Children'sHour.org.
[20:09] You're listening to The Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio. We'll be right back. The Children's
[20:15] Hour is grateful to Keshet Dance Company and Center for the Arts. They're celebrating 30
[20:20] years of impact in dance, mentorship, and social justice in Albuquerque and beyond. Learn more
[20:25] at keshetarts.org. New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs supports the Children's Hour.
[20:32] Celebrate the diverse cultural communities of New Mexico at nmculture.org. The Children's
[20:40] Hour is produced by The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New Mexico based educational nonprofit dedicated
[20:46] to creating the best in kids public radio and podcasts and supported by listeners just like
[20:53] you. There's always more at Children'sHour.org.
[21:06] New Rules for Adults by Eli Stone Rule number five. Age restrictions do not apply. It's
[21:16] election day, Mom, and I want to vote. I don't know, honey. Isn't voting just for adults?
[21:22] Think about it, Mom. Isn't this election going to affect what happens to me? Doesn't it seem
[21:29] strange that I wouldn't be allowed to vote in it? I'm concerned about the economy, and I
[21:36] believe that my candidate will strengthen local business. That's a good point, dear. Let's
[21:42] go vote together. How old are you again? It doesn't matter, Mom. Thanks to new rules for
[21:48] adults, age restrictions do not apply. New rules for adults is an oldie here in the Children's
[22:01] Hour archives recorded with theater in the making all the way back in the early 2010s. You're
[22:08] listening to the Children's Hour. I'm Katie Stone. And today we're learning about elections
[22:13] with Ballotpedia.org. That is a nonpartisan election information resource. No matter where
[22:21] you live, no matter which election or ballot issue that might be something that you or the
[22:29] grownups around you vote upon in this election and every election. They also have the history
[22:37] of voting around you and how elections went in the past. We're at Keshet Center for the
[22:44] Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Ballotpedia's executive director, Leslie Graves, who's joining
[22:51] us out of her home in central Wisconsin. Let's go over to Jonah. Why can't kids vote? In some
[23:00] elections, kids can vote like you might be allowed to vote on who your class president is when
[23:06] you get to the grade where you can do that. But in the elections that determine our politicians
[23:12] in the states in the United States, you have to be 18 to vote in every state with some exceptions.
[23:17] There are some school districts where 16 and 17 year olds are allowed to vote. So a lot
[23:22] of localities do things a little bit different. So it depends on where you live. But the basic
[23:27] reason why people have decided that 18 years old is the cutoff is because they feel like
[23:35] once you hit that magic age, your ability to judge things and make a good decision is better
[23:42] than when you're younger. You might disagree with that, but that is the reason for that
[23:47] cutoff. What's a ballot? It used to be a piece of paper, big piece of paper. that had the
[23:53] names on it of all of the candidates that you could vote for. And after you cast your vote,
[23:59] which you did by marking on it with a pencil or a pen, you folded it up so no one else could
[24:05] see it, because it's private who you vote for. You folded it up into a small piece of paper
[24:11] and shoved it inside a box. And then it was counted with all the other ballots. It was
[24:16] counted at the end of the day so that they would know how many people had voted for each of
[24:20] the candidates. Wow. We still vote here in New Mexico with paper and pen. Let's come to you,
[24:28] Fran. How do people vote? There are many more ways to vote now than there used to be when
[24:34] I was a young person. In the olden days, you had to walk or drive to a different building
[24:39] where you would physically cast your ballot. These days in most but not all states, you're
[24:46] able to get a ballot in advance of the election. And it depends. what state you live in, how
[24:51] far in advance, and you can fill it out at home. And you can either mail it in with a
[24:56] special envelope that they provide, or you can walk it in and drop it off early at an early
[25:02] polling place. So there are many, many more ways you can do it, but there's some way that
[25:07] you can't do it. You're not allowed to vote using like your cell phone. So there are still
[25:12] lots of ways that maybe you could vote in the future that are not ways that you can vote
[25:16] now. Leslie, can you describe what people might see on their ballot when they vote for the
[25:21] very first time? OK, great. The first time you go to vote, what you're going to discover
[25:26] on your ballot is roughly the average person will see 17 different contests. They're going
[25:33] to be able to vote for US Senate, not all the time, but most of the time, US House governor,
[25:37] state attorney general, state legislator. They may be voting for school board, city council,
[25:43] mayor, county commission. a number of those smaller types of offices. And then in some
[25:50] cities, some counties and some states, they also get to vote on issues. And the issues
[25:56] don't have anything to do with particular candidates. So the question will be something like, do
[26:01] you think we should increase the minimum wage in our state or other questions that determine
[26:06] actual outcomes like that? Not every state has those, but many states do. So you actually
[26:12] get to vote on fun things like that. That's the voice of Leslie Graves. She's the executive
[26:17] director of Ballotpedia. You're listening to the Children's Hour. We're learning about elections.
[26:51] Just shrug your shoulders, it's your democratic right To practice, protect, and promote So
[26:59] we ask you go out and vote
[27:06] We are lucky to be free To choose our candidates Though we may not agree We try to respect each
[27:16] other It's our democracy And so we ask you to take note and go
[27:25] Make your voices loud and clear While you still have the candidates here Because if you don't
[27:31] speak up today It'll be a few years till you get another say
[27:42] your your quality Change for the better Help shape our economy Environment and safety Healthcare,
[27:56] education, funding Peace, love and understanding Now you see why you must go Grab your ID, get
[28:04] your code and Go ID!
[28:12] Yes, you. That's Annie Lynn right here on the Children's Hour where we're learning about
[28:18] elections. Leslie Graves is our guest. She's from Ballotpedia.org. She's the executive director.
[28:26] Ballotpedia is a nonpartisan, meaning they don't take a stand one way or another on any
[28:33] issue or candidate, but they provide election information. They're considered the Wikipedia.
[28:40] of elections. Let's go over to Moon. When was the first election? The first election in our
[28:48] country was a little bit less than 250 years ago. And when people first had an opportunity
[28:56] to vote for president of the United States. So there have been thousands of elections in
[29:01] the United States. And even though we're talking about elections because there's an election
[29:06] coming right up in November. In most states, there are also elections throughout the year
[29:11] for smaller offices. So in this election that's coming up in November, that your parents and
[29:16] people in your community will be able to vote for United States House of Representatives
[29:20] and possibly a governor in your state and other offices like that. There are often other cities
[29:26] elections that take place earlier in the year for mayor and school board and so forth. So
[29:29] there are thousands of elections. Do you have to vote? You do not have to vote in the United
[29:34] States. There are some countries where you are required to vote. In our country, there is
[29:40] no penalty whatsoever if you choose not to vote. Why do you have to vote in some states? The
[29:47] countries that have a requirement that you have to vote. But it's a really good question. I
[29:55] think that they want everybody in the country to know that everybody had an opportunity to
[30:00] vote so that when a leader is elected, that they believe that that person was really chosen
[30:05] by everybody. In the United States, there are quite a few elections where fewer than half
[30:12] of the people who could vote do vote. And that feels very sad for people who do vote because
[30:18] then if this person is elected or that person is elected, they really weren't even elected
[30:24] by a majority of the people who could have voted for them. Wow. Yeah, I always wonder, Why don't
[30:33] people vote when they can vote? Well, as you can imagine, scientists who are social scientists
[30:40] have worked on this question very, very hard over the decades of people who don't vote.
[30:44] They have different sets of their different reasons for that. But probably the biggest
[30:49] reason is it just didn't become a habit. So people who do go on to be lifelong voters are
[30:56] people who the first year that they could vote where they turned 18. a trusted adult in their
[31:02] life, their mom or their dad or their grandparent takes them down and does the whole process
[31:07] with them. And once you start doing it, it does tend to become a habit. But, you know, there
[31:12] there are lot of things that we as human beings think we should do that we don't do. Like maybe
[31:18] I should go and exercise five times a week, but I don't. So but I hope everyone listening
[31:25] will think about how they can develop the habit of voting because it makes life. more interesting
[31:30] for you when you're an adult, when you participate in it. That's Leslie Graves, the executive
[31:36] director of Ballotpedia. Today on The Children's Hour, we're learning about elections. Find
[31:42] the learning guide for this episode at ChildrensHour.org. This is the Deedle Deedle Dean.
[32:00] Every time we'd stand there in the voting line People from church would all say hi She smiled
[32:08] at everyone There were lots of boots veteran hats, women in polyester pants, fluorescent
[32:17] lights and the real romance of imagining myself one day in a suit, shaking hands, saying
[32:30] nice to meet you. Oh I read those names on front yard signs Went home to make my designs
[32:40] Instead of their names I put mine Cause I knew I would run First I'd win the World Series
[32:47] in the Super Bowl Then help Magic Johnson beat Larry Bird Pilot a jet, save the world, come
[32:54] home as everyone's favorite son They'd all cheer, oh hear me talk about my kids Ever have a
[33:10] dream that you can dream alone? Maybe that's why I love to vote. My mom would let me poke
[33:16] the holes in that little paper card. We'd talk at home with my grandma about who was on the
[33:24] ballot and what they thought. So about fourth grade, I knew them all. I could argue with
[33:30] anyone. I thought I was just a guy. Sort out all the problems, men are in big books all
[33:42] the time
[33:54] I wish I could have walked over Edmund Pettus Bridge with John Lewis on that Sunday I wish
[34:01] I would have known when I was a kid just how hard it was For so many people to do that simple
[34:09] thing that for me was a childhood game The polling place was a place to dream to be the same for
[34:16] everyone We are free We believe in love If we don't fight for each other, those are just
[34:27] words I thought about Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone Who fought for women when they couldn't
[34:35] vote I heard Fannie Lou Hamer singing her songs when I went out that day With my kid and a
[34:43] baby bjorn to the school near my house in the predawn There was a line of people in my big
[34:49] city home and I knew everyone was there to vote for us I was happy to wait I was cold but warm
[35:02] and the sun came up
[35:09] you
[35:34] This is a group of students. Some of them are students of mine. I teach for Albuquerque Public
[35:39] Schools in an alternative program called Family School. It's a program in which the students
[35:44] come to school for four hours for four days and their parents homeschool them the rest
[35:49] of the time. They do this community seminar every other week and it kind of enlivened them
[35:55] to become involved in voting and advocating for you to vote the people who can. The students
[36:01] are Nicole, who's an eighth grader in my class, Daniel, who's also an eighth grader, Kellen,
[36:06] who's a seventh grader, and Jeremy, is in fact a third grader. We take a topic and think about
[36:11] it over the period of two weeks. And we usually have a writing piece that it's based on. But
[36:17] this year, we're also reading news articles each week in the paper. And they've become
[36:21] a big part of our discussion. And our parents are also invited. and they come and join in
[36:27] our debate. American history which has brought us to the documents our country was founded
[36:30] on like the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. main thing we discovered in reading
[36:35] the declaration is that we control the government, that the government receives its power from
[36:40] us. If our government's not doing its job, then we can change it or get rid of it and
[36:45] establish a better one. In our community seminar, we discussed the conditions of New Mexico
[36:50] and how we wished we had a better state. We began to look at the situation and asked ourselves,
[36:55] where the problem really lies. most people complained about the government, but as we
[37:00] read, we really understood it's not the government, but the people, because we empower them. You
[37:05] can make a difference. We decided that we need a better future, so we attempted to help people
[37:12] make that for us. We had flyers made, a banner made, and t-shirts made. We've been out at
[37:19] some of our major intersections passing out flyers. Our flyer says... vote because we
[37:26] can't. We could still register another 300,000 people in New Mexico. Roughly 55 % of our registered
[37:35] voting population actually voted in the last state elections. There are 2,000 registered
[37:41] voters on the UNM campus for the primaries and only 18 has voted. We're proud of what our
[37:48] forefathers did for us. Will we be proud of you? We want a better future. change New Mexico.
[37:55] We'll be in front of stores and other intersections next week and two and we're still trying to
[38:01] get something on TV. Then we shouldn't be complaining because when we don't vote we lose out. not
[38:07] their right to vote but their responsibility to vote. When we are able to vote we'll make
[38:13] a better future for our children and so on and so forth. Eligible people who can vote to take
[38:19] that responsibility seriously and become involved. and educated on who is the best person for
[38:26] each position in our government and who will carry out the will of the people. And if those
[38:31] elected officials do not fulfill their duties to provide a better place to live, they need
[38:37] to be replaced. One time they let us go in the booth with our mom. Their desire to have
[38:42] you go out and vote is in fact heartfelt and stems a great deal from what they got from
[38:48] reading both the Declaration of Independence and of late. We're wearing t-shirts and on
[38:54] the front it says the future. We decided to put that because we are the future. On the
[39:00] back it says vote because we can't yet. That is, that's our slogan. We're proud of what
[39:05] our forefathers did for us. Will we be proud of you? We want a better future. Vote! An
[39:16] oldie but goodie from the Children's Hour Archives recorded at the family school in Albuquerque.
[39:22] You're listening to The Children's Hour. Today's episode is about elections. You can find a
[39:26] learning guide at ChildrensHour.org. We've got a lot more coming up at Ballotpedia, including
[39:32] our own election, right here on The Children's Hour. Stick with us.
[40:03] Listening to the children's hour. Kids Public Radio. We'll be right back.
[40:12] Support for the Children's Hour provided by the City of Albuquerque Cultural Services Department
[40:18] and the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund. Support for the Children's Hour provided by the Albuquerque
[40:25] Community Foundation, who are helping us make our learning guides every week. You can support
[40:30] this effort too. Go to childrenshour.org and click donate.
[40:39] Teachers and parents listen up because all episodes are now available in Shorts. They each come
[40:47] with a free learning guide and activities that meet educational standards. Listen to the
[40:53] Children's Hour Shorts wherever you get your podcasts or at childrenshour.org slash shorts.
[41:02] Humpty Dumpty humpty dumpty humpty dumpty humpty dumpty humpty dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty
[41:11] Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men said vote. Go vote.
[41:16] Humpty Dumpty humpty dumpty humpty dumpty humpty Jack and Jill went up the hill, cropped a patch
[41:22] of pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and said vote. Go vote. Humpty Dumpty
[41:29] Hum Hum Dee Dum Dee Dum Dee Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey
[41:34] Along came a spider and sat down beside her and said, Vote! Go vote! Vote! Go vote! Vote!
[41:40] Vote! Go vote! Go vote! Go vote! Go vote! Vote! Vote! Go vote! Go vote! Go Go Go Go Go Go
[41:47] vote! Go Go Go that the waters around you have grown and accepted that soon you'll be turned
[41:50] to the bone. Vote! Go vote! Vote! Go vote! Vote! Vote! Go vote! vote! Go vote! Go vote! Vote!
[41:58] Vote! Go Vs. Don't you know talking about a revolution sounds like a whisper? Don't you
[42:11] know talking about a revolution sounds like vote, go vote. That's Ants on a Log with Humpty
[42:19] Vote. You're listening to The Children's Hour. In the United States, a very big election is
[42:26] coming up. In all of the states, it's called the midterms. Our guest is Leslie Graves. She's
[42:33] from Ballotpedia. And Leslie, what is this term, the midterms? I think of midterms, I don't
[42:41] know of the kids on the children's hour are old enough to think of midterms, that word
[42:45] to mean tests. So Leslie, what is this term midterms? Where does it come from and what
[42:51] is it referring to? Sure. So I'm sure everyone here knows who the president is and that there
[42:58] is a president and they occupy the White House and they have a tremendous amount of authority
[43:03] over what the government is or isn't doing. That's the president. But they're only elected
[43:08] every four years and every two years we in America go and vote for our representatives to the
[43:14] United States Congress, 435 of them across the country. So because they're elected every
[43:21] two years while the president is only elected every four years, two years after a president
[43:26] is elected. There's a midterm where the president is not on the ballot. We're not nobody's going
[43:31] to be voting for president here in November and November 3rd. They're going to be voting
[43:35] for their representatives who represent a particular community in your state, in each of the states
[43:40] who take those issues to Washington, D.C. and represent the voice of their community to the
[43:48] federal government. So midterm is really just like a shortened version of. middle of the
[43:54] term of the presidency. That's right. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. How do you try to get
[44:02] elected for a presidency? Yeah, that's a great question. And whether you are trying to get
[44:07] elected to be the president or a US senator or the governor of your state or state legislator,
[44:13] it's always the same. You figure out who who's going to be running against you. And it's usually
[44:18] just the two of you. And you figure out what You want to have happen if you get elected
[44:24] so you might think to yourself if I get elected I'm gonna have these positions on these issues
[44:29] I'm gonna stop this I'm gonna try to stop this from happening or I'm gonna start this other
[44:33] thing happening and then you look at their issues and then you have to figure out how you're
[44:38] gonna get the voters who live around you who are going to be the ones who vote on you to
[44:43] like you more than they like the other person. So there are two pieces to this. politicians
[44:49] try to get you to like them by telling you stories about what they will do if they get elected.
[44:55] And another thing that they try to do is get you to not like the person that they're running
[45:00] against by telling you negative stories about the other person. I kind of think that might
[45:06] be what people don't like about elections is that last thing you just said where people
[45:11] say mean things about the other person. It just it's every other. part of our lives we don't
[45:17] say mean things to people or about other people or go around saying you know, Leslie has food
[45:23] in her teeth or whatever, know, just insulting somebody. And yet in this situation, it's
[45:29] acceptable. Does it really work to make people want to vote for one candidate or another?
[45:35] Is that way they do it? Do you think that maybe one of the reasons that people get kind of
[45:39] turned off by elections? I mean, I think that's a really great point that in no other part
[45:45] of our life do we routinely say mean things about other people. If you did, your teacher
[45:52] or your parents would say, but cut it out and try to explain why we don't act that way.
[45:58] In politics, it happens all the time. And it is indeed why some people start to find the
[46:05] whole area of politics. ugly and they don't want to be involved with it. And that is one
[46:10] reason that some people choose not to vote, because it just is so depressing if for some
[46:17] people to hear all of the constant negative things, mean things that are said. Both both
[46:23] candidates do it about each other. Interesting, isn't it? Like what's the like highest amount
[46:28] of people who have voted in the U.S.? Right. So the population of our country keeps growing
[46:35] every every year. So the numbers get higher and higher. So for the presidential vote two
[46:42] years ago, it was somewhere between 150 and 200 million. This November, when we are voting
[46:49] on the midterms, it won't be that high because not as many people will go and vote this November
[46:54] as did vote for president. So it'll probably be somewhere between 130 and 140 million people
[47:01] voting. How do you know that? How do you know that not as many people will come out? I mean,
[47:07] maybe this time everybody will come out. I stand corrected. mean, I think that's a legitimate
[47:13] question to raise. well, that brings up the idea of polls. There's this concept of polls.
[47:21] We hear about this word polls and what is a poll when it comes to elections? Yeah. So politicians
[47:29] and the political parties are deeply curious about who's going to win. And the newspapers
[47:35] are also curious about it. Everybody's curious about it that follows politics. So a poll is
[47:40] a way of trying to get a little bit of a clue about how the vote is going to go. So pollsters
[47:47] are people who conduct polls. And I saw a friend that you had a cat on your lap. So you could
[47:52] run a poll to find out whether more Americans like cats or whether more Americans like dogs.
[47:58] And the way that they would run that poll is they would call a certain number of homes.
[48:02] And if they answer the phone, they would say, we're doing a poll. Do you, would you rather
[48:06] have a cat or would you rather have a dog? And then they'll write down your answer. And at
[48:09] the end of doing a certain number of calls, they'll be able to say 60 % of American homeowners
[48:16] prefer cats and 40 % prefer dogs. So the cats are going to win. But they only talk. They
[48:23] will only have talked to like 2000 people, even though there are hundreds of millions of people.
[48:27] But even though they only talk to a small number of people, they still feel confident saying
[48:33] that cats win. So that's interesting, isn't it? That all these polls are based on just
[48:39] talking to a relatively small number of people based on which they say, yeah, cats are the
[48:44] winners. So let's pull everybody on the children's hour and we'll make a poll out of this and
[48:50] we'll decide to kids like Dogs or cats better? We took a poll. Amaya, dog or cat? Dog. Dog.
[48:59] Cat. Dog. Dog. Cat. Cat. Cats. And I vote cats. It turns out, according to our highly
[49:07] scientific poll, kids prefer cats. How? You're listening to the Children's Hour. I'm pretty
[49:15] sure there are lots of people that had said dog. Well, the funny thing about that is that
[49:21] in one of the more important newspapers in the United States, the New York Times just had
[49:25] an article this last week saying that for the first time ever, American households have
[49:30] more cats than dogs. It used to be that they had more dogs. So this poll is accurate. Oh,
[49:37] yeah. And you heard it first from Ballotpedia. You're listening to the Children's Hour. We're
[49:41] learning about elections with Leslie Graves, the executive director of Ballotpedia. We'll
[49:46] be right back. Well it's cats versus dogs Who would it go inside with? Cause it won't go
[50:00] away Which one are you?
[50:12] start here if you have ever noticed Then maybe you've also noticed
[50:37] They might scratch you anytime you turn your back. Cause it's cats versus dogs who are going
[50:50] sideways.
[50:57] side
[51:05] The cats they clean up for themselves The dogs love running after The cats you can't
[51:28] Best to fly, and get me going to save you, and he'll clean your bones Is it the cat, the
[51:39] loser's dog?
[51:56] the Agarfield original motion picture soundtrack that's Matthew Sweet with Cats vs. Dogs. You're
[52:02] listening to the Children's Hour today on the show. We're learning about elections with Leslie
[52:07] Graves from Ballotpedia. You can learn a lot more about Ballotpedia at Ballotpedia.org or
[52:13] there's links posted to Children'sHour.org. Look for elections and there you'll also find
[52:18] our learning guide for this episode. Fran, we're gonna come to you. What's so important about
[52:23] secret ballots? So one of the things that's interesting about American history is that
[52:29] your ballot did not used to be secret and it only became secret starting in about the 1870s.
[52:35] But one of the reasons that we have a secret ballot and think about this Fran, you said
[52:40] that you prefer cats and let's say that I know that you love cats and I really want you to
[52:45] like me. I secretly prefer dogs, but I don't want you to know that I'm voting for dogs because
[52:51] I want you to like me. So I would rather. fill out a secret ballot so that you don't know
[52:56] who I voted for. And that basically is the reason that we have secret ballots is because we want
[53:02] people to be able to cast that vote in the privacy of their own heart and their own mind and what
[53:08] they truly believe without worrying about other people judging them for what they wrote down
[53:13] on that ballot. And that's a really important part of how we vote now these days. What's
[53:19] the point of early voting? The reason that states that allow early voting do allow it is because
[53:26] adults get really busy. They may not have time to go vote on the day of the on the actual
[53:32] day of the election, or they might get in a car accident or they might have to go visit
[53:35] somebody in the hospital or there are various different reasons why life might just make
[53:41] it impossible for them to go vote the actual day of the election. So states have created
[53:46] an early voting period so that you can vote anywhere in there, whether it's two weeks,
[53:51] four weeks, some places at six weeks. so that you have a whole big window of opportunities
[53:56] to make sure that you actually are able to fit it in to your busy life. Our elections pretty
[54:02] secure. I know I sometimes hear in the news that some people think, oh, people cheat and
[54:07] that's how they win. It always struck me that everyone's so careful. Isn't that the case?
[54:12] Can't we just double check? I mean, we have all these ballots. We could just count them
[54:16] again. Yeah. So every county in the United States has an election clerk and they supervise. and
[54:22] monitor and make sure that the election in their county is run according to plan. You don't
[54:28] want anybody voting that can't vote and that you're counting the votes right after every
[54:33] election. There are people who lost who feel like maybe the votes were counted wrong. Both
[54:40] parties do it. It's not unheard of throughout American history for one party to believe that
[54:45] something wrong happened down at the voting booth. But by and large, elections are very
[54:50] secure. and get more secure all the time because the people who manage them get better and better
[54:55] and better at doing that. It's like you, Amaya, saying that it was impossible for cats to have
[55:01] won. Oh, yeah. I was just wondering if it was possible for dogs to win. Exactly, because
[55:09] dogs didn't win. So, Amaya, you and I might feel that election was rigged. Yes. Well,
[55:15] Leslie Graves. the executive director of Ballotpedia. Thank you so much for being with us on the
[55:20] Children's Hour today. We learned a lot from you. Thanks for having me here. I hope that
[55:25] you all vote when you're old enough to vote. That's all the time we have left on The Children's
[55:33] Hour. We're going to go out with Brady Reimer and the little band that could. I'm Katie Stone.
[55:37] We'll catch you next time for another edition of The Children's Hour.
[55:48] As sisters and as brothers Try to find peace within Without stepping on one another Do respect
[55:58] the Make this land a better land, the world in which we live Help each one be a better
[56:09] home, with the kindness that you give I know we can make it, I know darn well we can work
[56:17] it out Yes we can, I know we can't, can't, yes we can, can't, what can't we if we want to,
[56:22] yes we can, can't I know we can make it, I know we can make it Yes we can and only can can
[56:30] Yes we can can but can't we if we want to Yes we can can Yes we can and only can can Great
[56:36] gosh almighty Yes we can and only can can
[56:43] Take care of the children, children of the world. They're our strongest hope for the
[56:50] future, the little bitty boys and girls. Make this land a better land than the world in which
[56:57] we live. Help each one be a better one with the kindness that you give. I know we can
[57:05] make it. We can work it out! Yes we can, I know we can't, can't Yes we can, can't, we can't,
[57:23] we can't, can't, can't,
[57:54] Help each one
[58:00] Children's Hour is produced by The Children's Hour, Inc., a New Mexico nonprofit. You can
[58:06] find photos, playlists, learning guides, and activities for every episode at Children'sHour.org.
[58:12] This episode of The Children's Hour was written and produced by me, Katie Stone, with production
[58:17] help from Zoe Sullivan, Samantha Dates, Mackenzie Gronke, Sarah Gabrielli, and our learning
[58:23] guides are written by Amber Scheele. You can find this one at Children'sHour.org. Look
[58:28] for elections. Find our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or go to our patreon.com
[58:35] slash The Children's Hour. Or ask your smart speaker to play The Children's Hour podcast.
[58:41] Our theme music was written by C.K. Barlow. The Children's Hour is distributed by Native
[58:48] Voice One, the Native American radio network. Thanks for listening to The Children's Hour,
[58:55] kids' public radio.

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