In this episode of The Children’s Hour, we dive deep into how elections work in the United States, and especially focus on the big one: the Presidential election! With a Presidential election coming up, we wanted to make sure everyone understands how voting really works and what makes it so important.



Find the full episode page at https://childrenshour.org/presidential-elections



We had the honor of speaking with New Mexico's Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who gave us an inside look at how elections are managed. Did you know her job is to make sure every vote in New Mexico is counted and that voting is safe and fair? Secretary Toulouse Oliver explained how voting works, what a ballot is, and even answered the Kids Crew’s questions about absentee ballots and how votes are counted.



We also learned about something called the Electoral College, which is how the President of the United States is actually chosen. New Mexico State Representative Pamela Herndon, who was once an elector in the Electoral College, explained this very confusing system and why it’s still used today. The Kids Crew had a lot of questions, like why isn’t the President chosen by just counting the votes of the people? It turns out, the Electoral College has been around since the Constitution was written, and it’s a big topic of discussion today.



Find information to help you understand how the leaders of our country are chosen and why voting matters. Even though kids can’t vote, you can learn so much and help the adults in your life make good decisions!



This episode of The Children’s Hour was written and produced by Katie Stone with help from Thaniel Lentz. Our theme music is by C.K. Barlow. The Children’s Hour is distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American Radio Network.



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