40 Election Trivia Questions For Kids: Let's Get Voting!
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The United States' election process has now become famous for its complex procedures.
With the results of the latest election winding up, here is a list of facts about the election to test yourself on! The USA holds its Presidential election every four years to determine the future leader of the country.
This list of presidential election trivia in America will test the knowledge of even those who claim to be an expert in our government's workings. If you liked this list of 40 election day trivia for kids, why not check out these other trivia articles like President trivia and Presidents Day trivia. Let's dive right in!
General Election Trivia
Before we get deeper into the intricacies of the elections or into the funny election questions, let us test our knowledge on the very basics of presidential elections. Read on to find a comprehensive list of general election day facts for kids.
1. Question: When, according to the statutory set by the Federal Government, is Election Day?
Answer: Election Day is Tuesday, after the first Monday in the month of November. In other words, the Tuesday between 2 November and 8 November.
2. Question: What is the minimum age you have to be to qualify as a candidate for the post of the President of the United States?
Answer: You have to be at least 35 years old to qualify to be a Presidential candidate.
3. Question: What are the two main parties in the United States?
Answer: Politicians and citizens usually belong to either the Republican Party or the Democrat party.
4. Question: What is decided at a caucus?
Answer: In caucuses, members of a particular party meet and discuss their choices for the best candidate from their party.
5. Question: For how long do you have to be a US resident to be able to run for President?
Answer: You have to have lived in the United States (permanently) for at least 14 years.
6. Question: What happens at a Primary?
Answer: At the Primaries, members of both parties vote in a state election to decide their candidates, who will run on behalf of them in the General Election.
7. Question: Who decides the Vice Presidential nominee for any year?
Answer: The major parties and their members decide the nominees for the President and Vice President are usually picked out by the Presidential nominee.
8. Question: When do the people of the United States of America caste their vote?
Answer: On Election Day, people caste their votes.
9. Question: How many electors constitute the Electoral College?
Answer: The Electoral College consists of 538 people.
10. Question: How often do the Presidential Elections take place?
Answer: The Presidential Elections take place every four years.
11. Question: How many votes does a candidate need to win the presidential election?
Answer: A presidential candidate would need at least 270 electors to claim victory.
12. Question: When does the actual Electoral College vote take place?
Answer: It usually takes place somewhere in mid-December.
13. Question: At what point must a candidate register with the Federal Election Commission?
Answer: Once any candidate has spent or raised $5000 for their campaign, they need to register under the FEC.
14. Question: Who is a superdelegate in the context of a National Political Convention?
Answer: Superdelegates are unpledged delegates who have the freedom to support any candidate they choose, unlike bound or pledged delegates.
15. Question: When is the National Political Convention considered to be 'brokered'?
Answer: The NPC is considered to be 'brokered' if no nominee wins in the first round of voting.
Funny Presidential Election Trivia Questions
To start off this comprehensive list of voting fun facts with a bang, here are a few funny voting facts we bet you didn't know before! These election fun facts will tell you exactly how strange things have become in the illustrious history of the USA's Presidential election.
16. Question: Which year saw a Presidential candidate call his opponent a 'contemptible hypocrite' and a 'brat of a Scotch peddler'?
Answer: The year was 1800, and the candidates were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
17. Question: In which year was a comparison of the candidates' skull printed out in mass media to determine the capacity of their brains?
Answer: 1884.
18. Question: Which Presidential candidate had bubblegum cigars as a part of their campaign?
Answer: Richard Nixon.
19. Question: Which candidate ran for President from prison?
Answer: Eugene V Debs, a five-time Socialist Party candidate. He was jailed for continued agitation against the government.
20. Question: Four televised debates came out in the 1960 presidential campaign after which one candidate lost public favor amongst the viewers. Who were the two candidates?
Answer: Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon, the latter appeared pale and sweaty.
21. Question: Which is the first President in US History to have won a full third term?
Answer: Franklin D Roosevelt.
22. Question: How many of the total number of eligible American voters cast their ballot in the presidential election?
Answer: Only around 50-60%. This voter fact often determines the winner.
23. Question: Which US Senator served for over fifty years, setting the record?
Answer: Robert Byrd.
24. Question: Which is the only non-state where residents can cast ballots for their presidential elections?
Answer: The District of Columbia.
25. Question: Why is the symbol of the Democratic party a Donkey?
Answer: One of the founding members of the Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson, was called a 'jackass' by his opposing candidate, and he embraced it. This is why Democrats to this day use a jackass or a donkey as their symbol.
History Of Voting Trivia Questions
To fully understand the long history of the Presidential election, try out our list of historical US election trivia and history election facts for students.
26. Question: In which year was there an event where no candidate received the majority of electoral votes?
Answer: 1824 - the House of Representatives had to elect John Quincy Adams as president from the top three candidates.
27. Question: In which three years did a candidate win the Electoral College but lose the popular vote?
Answer: 1800s, 2000, and most recently, in 2016.
28. Question: Which president won the first quadrennial presidential election?
Answer: George Washington.
29. Question: Which is the only US election that spanned two calendar years?
Answer: 1788 and 1789, when George Washington was elected President.
30. Question: Why was Tuesday chosen as Election Day?
Answer: The idea behind this was that on Sunday, people could go to Church, travel the next day to their county seats and vote on Tuesday. Few people know this facts about election day.
Funny Election Trivia Questions And Answers About The Recent Elections
To close off this informative list of fun election facts, let us look at the events that have taken place while Americans were looking forward to and casting their vote.
No list of voter facts and presidential election trivia is complete without looking into the current state of affairs, so let's dive right into this list of updated facts about voting for kids.
31. Question: As a result of the pandemic wreaking havoc across the country, how many Americans availed the option to mail in ballots?
Answer: A record number of 100 million Americans chose to vote early and mail in their ballots.
32. Question: Which is the most expensive election in history?
Answer: The recent 2020 elections cost $14 billion, and is the most expensive election in the history of America.
33. Question: Who is the only President to ever be defeated by a former Vice President?
Answer: Donald Trump.
34. Question: Who is the oldest person to be elected as President?
Answer: President-Elect Joe Biden is the oldest person to hold the office, beating Trump's record by eight years.
35. Question: Who is the first female US Vice President in history?
Answer: Kamala Harris.
36. Question: What is the closest any woman has come to being the President of the US?
Answer: Hillary Clinton won popular vote in 2016, but did not make the final cut to be President.
37. Question: For how many terms did Barack Obama hold office?
Answer: Two.
38. Question: Which bible did President Obama choose to swear into office?
Answer: He chose Abraham Lincoln's Bible.
39. Question: Who is the only President in history to be banned from social media apps like Twitter and Instagram?
Answer: Donald Trump.
40. Question: Who is the only President to have been impeached twice?
Answer: Donald Trump.
We hope you enjoyed our comprehensive list of presidential election trivia on fun facts about election day, and facts about voting in America every citizen should know.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly trivia for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestion for election trivia, then why not take a look at inauguration trivia or American trivia?
Second Image Editorial credit: Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in English and Drama, Master of Arts specializing in Performance: Design and Practice
Luca DemetriouBachelor of Arts specializing in English and Drama, Master of Arts specializing in Performance: Design and Practice
Experienced in writing and sub-editing, Luca holds a Bachelor's in English Literature and Drama from the University of Birmingham, where he served as the culture editor at Redbrick Paper. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Performance: Design and Practice at the University of the Arts in London, showcasing his passion for the arts, performance, and history. With a keen interest in traveling, Luca enjoys exploring new cultures and experiencing diverse perspectives.
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