The Three Governors

Three Governors, County Unit Rule,
and the Presidential Election of 2000

Introduction
The United States presidential election of 2000 was one of the more unusual presidential races in this country's history. For more on why it was so interesting watch the videos below……

Video: Florida, Florida, Florida!

Eventually the election was decided but not before the Supreme Court had to make an historic ruling about Florida and its “hanging chads.”

A similar event happened in the Georgia Gubernatorial race of 1946 when the Governor elect Eugene Talmadge suddenly died before he could be sworn into office. To complicate matters Talmadge had not won the popular vote thanks to the “county-unit” rule and some questionable votes. Just as with the 2000 presidential election the result was decided by the courts, the Georgia Supreme Court in this case.

Task
Your group should make a 15 minute power point video comparing the election of 2000 with the Three Governors controversy. In your power point you should answer the following questions:

Eugene Talmadge

How was Georgia’s Gubernatorial Election of the 1946 similar to the Presidential election of 2000?
How were the two elections different?
What is the County Unit System and what is the Electoral College?
What role did the County Unit system play in the gubernatorial election of 1946?
What role did the Electoral College play in the presidential election of 2000?
What are the similarities and differences between the county unity system and Electoral College?
What roles did the courts play in each of the elections?
Who won each election and how was the winner decided?

Process
To begin, your teacher will divide you into groups to work on this project.
Next, you will need to explore the history surrounding each election by visiting the following pages:

Next, create a power PowerPoint presentation that provides the viewer with an overview of each election. Then add slides that answer each of the questions listed above.
Use the following links to find pictures and other media that you can incorporate into your presentation:

Be sure to add pictures as appropriate.
Finally, cite the information you find as well as the pictures in your PowerPoint presentation.

Evaluation
The project will be evaluated based on the following rubric:

Presentation Rubric
Scale Criteria	1 Below Expectation	2 Needs Improvement	3 Meets Expectation	4 Exceeds Expectation
Students produce a product that is attractive and creative.	Use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. is evident, but these often distract form the presentation of content.	Makes use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc., but occasionally there detract from the presentation of content.	Makes good use font, color, graphics, effects etc. to enhance the presentation.	Makes excellent use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance the presentation.
Students produce a product that is organized	There was no clear of logical organizational structure, just lots of facts.	Most of the content is logically organized and clearly presented.	The overall organization and presentation is appropriate.	Content is well organized, easy to understand, and clearly presented.
Students produce a product that exhibits proper mechanics.	More than 4 errors are spelling or grammar.	Four misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	No misspellings or grammatical errors and the language is appropriate.	No misspellings or grammatical errors and the language used shows an in depth understanding of the material.
Students make a persuasive argument	Presentation receives no votes.	Presentation receives less than 25% of class support.	Presentation receives more than 25% of class support.	Presentation receives unanimous vote of support.

Conclusion
Carefully read the evaluation rubric so see how your presentation will be evaluated. Revise your PowerPoint presentation to make sure that it meets the criteria listed. Once your group is finished revising give a copy of your presentation to your teacher so that they can grade it.

Images courtesy of the Digital Library of Georgia
Embedded video courtesy of YouTube
Last Updated on June 13, 2011 by Lisa Weaver