Lesson 9: What is on your ballot, and where do you check? Educator guide

Flip the ballot over

The story: More than one race

It is Sunday at the library desk. Dec turns 18 in October, before the general election on November 3, 2026. His feed is full of posts about one big race. Mateo and Gia are helping him find out what else is on his ballot.

They look at a sample ballot. The front shows the big race from Dec’s feed. Then Mateo flips it over. The second page has a school board race, a city council seat and Measure T, a transit bond. “Nobody’s posting about Measure T,” Mateo says.

A creator’s voter guide is going around too. It says registration closes “the 14th.” It never says which state. It also tells people how to vote on the school board race and Measure T.

Dec is clear about what he wants. “I don’t need someone picking for me,” he says. He needs to know what is on his ballot and whether he is registered in time. Your job is to find his official sample ballot before anyone tells him how to vote.

Facts, picks and your own address

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot. A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election. The two do different jobs. Start with the sample ballot. Then check a guide’s facts apart from its picks.

In Lesson 1, you learned that a claim can be checked with evidence. “Registration closes the 14th” is a claim. But the 14th of what month, in which state? Gia asks, “Whose 14th?” The picks, like “Measure T: yes, obviously,” are opinions, not facts.

In Lesson 8, you learned to ask about a material connection, a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. The guide never says who wrote it or who pays for it. That is worth asking.

Your address decides which contests appear on your ballot. A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority. Mateo realizes he may still be registered at his mom’s address in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His ballot and deadline could be different from Dec’s. Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.

How voting rules really work

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment protects the right to vote for citizens 18 and older (National Constitution Center, no date listed). Rules for registering differ by state. Most states let teens preregister before they turn 18 (Ballotpedia News, September 26, 2025). Gia’s reminder for the group chat sends everyone to Vote.gov to check their own registration and sample ballot.

Key terms in this passage

Sample ballot

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.

Voter guide

A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.

Registration

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.

Jurisdiction

A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.

Claim

A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.

Material connection

A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.

Real sources cited

• National Constitution Center, “The 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Ballotpedia News, “Most states allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before turning 18, and some let them vote in primaries,” September 26, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Vote.gov, “Your state or territory’s voting information,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Your ballot is not your feed

The story: The second page

Dec turns 18 in October, a few weeks before the general election on November 3, 2026. If his feed is any guide, only one race matters. Every post is about the same big contest. On Sunday at the library desk, Mateo and Gia help him look past it.

They pull up a sample ballot for the November election. The front page matches the feed. The second page does not. It lists a school board race, a city council seat and Measure T, a transit bond. Mateo says what everyone is thinking: nobody is posting about Measure T.

A creator’s voter guide is circulating in their group chat: “All you need for November!! Registration closes the 14th. School board: vote Candidate B, the only one who cares about students. Measure T: yes, obviously.” Dec reads it and says he does not need anyone picking for him. He has two questions. What is on his ballot, and is he registered in time?

Gia is writing a reminder for the chat, and Mateo has an uncomfortable realization. He moved from New Bedford for college, and he may still be registered at his mom’s address in Massachusetts. Your role in this case is to find Dec’s official sample ballot before anyone tells him how to vote.

Sorting what can be checked

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot. A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election. The sample ballot is the original source, the Lesson 1 skill, and the guide is someone’s reading of it. Lesson 1 also taught you that a claim is a statement that can be checked with evidence. The guide contains one checkable claim, the registration deadline, and it cannot be checked because it never names a state. Gia’s question is exact: whose 14th?

Lesson 8 gave you another question to ask, about a material connection, a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. The guide does not say who wrote it or who funds it. That does not make its picks wrong. It does mean Dec should treat them as opinions from an unknown source.

The ballot also teaches something about power. A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority. Your address decides which contests appear on your ballot, and a friend two districts over may see different local races. A school board and a city council have different jobs. Before researching candidates, Dec can ask which office has power over the issue he cares about, such as his school or his bus.

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote. Deadlines vary by state, so Gia leaves the date out of her reminder. Her message is short: check your registration and your own sample ballot at Vote.gov, deadlines depend on your state, and please don’t post your address.

Young voters and the rules

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment protects the right to vote for citizens 18 and older (National Constitution Center, no date listed). Its roots go back to World War II and the slogan “old enough to fight, old enough to vote” (The National WWII Museum, October 27, 2020). Most states now allow teens to preregister before 18, and some let 17-year-olds vote in primaries (Ballotpedia News, September 26, 2025).

Young people do vote. About 47 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds voted in 2024, with big differences by state (CIRCLE, April 14, 2025). Anika, who is 16, is checking whether she can preregister. She can also learn what the school board decides before she can vote on it.

Key terms in this passage

Sample ballot

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.

Voter guide

A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.

Registration

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.

Jurisdiction

A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.

Claim

A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.

Material connection

A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.

Real sources cited

• Vote.gov, “Your state or territory’s voting information,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Constitution Center, “The 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• The National WWII Museum, ““Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote”: The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment,” October 27, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Ballotpedia News, “Most states allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before turning 18, and some let them vote in primaries,” September 26, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCLE (Tufts University), “New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024,” April 14, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Down the ballot and back to the source

The story: One race in the feed, five on the ballot

Dec, a high school senior who drums on weekends and helps build theater sets, turns 18 in October. The general election is November 3, 2026. His social feed treats it as a single contest, one big race covered from every angle. On Sunday, at the library desk, Mateo and Gia help him find out what the feed leaves out.

The sample ballot for November is organized by level of government. Federal: U.S. Representative. State: State Senator and a Superior Court judge up for retention. Local: two seats on the Board of Education in District 3 and a City Council seat in Ward 5. And one measure: Measure T, a transit improvements bond. Mateo notices that the lower half of the ballot has almost no online presence. Nobody is posting about Measure T.

What is circulating instead is a creator’s voter guide. It promises “all you need for November,” announces that registration closes “the 14th” and tells readers to vote for Candidate B for school board and “yes, obviously” on Measure T. Dec’s response sets the terms for the case. He does not need anyone picking for him. He needs to know what is on his ballot and whether he is registered in time.

Mateo has a problem of his own. He moved from New Bedford, Massachusetts, for college and may still be registered at his mom’s address there. Different state, different ballot, different deadline. Your role is to find Dec’s official sample ballot before anyone tells him how to vote.

Separating information from advocacy

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot. A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election. The distinction matters because the two serve different purposes. The sample ballot tells you what you will decide. A guide tells you what someone thinks you should decide, and sometimes also what the choices mean.

The new skill here builds on two earlier ones. From Lesson 1, you go to the original source and treat each statement as a claim that can be checked. The guide’s deadline is a claim with no jurisdiction attached, so it cannot be verified and should not be repeated. From Lesson 8, you ask about a material connection, a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. Here, the guide leaves out who wrote and who funds it. That missing information does not make its picks wrong. It does mean they should be read as advocacy from an unnamed source.

A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority. Your address determines which contests appear on your ballot, which is why Mateo cannot assume his ballot matches Dec’s. Jurisdiction also shapes research. A school board and a city council have different powers, so a voter who cares about buses should learn which body runs them before comparing candidates. Mateo starts Measure T with two questions: what it would pay for, and who runs the buses.

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote. Because rules and deadlines vary by state, Gia’s group-chat reminder deliberately contains no deadline. It sends everyone to Vote.gov for their own registration and sample ballot, and it asks people not to post their addresses.

The constitutional floor and the state rules

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment protects the right of citizens 18 and older to vote (National Constitution Center, no date listed). The National WWII Museum traces its origins to the wartime argument that people old enough to fight were old enough to vote (The National WWII Museum, October 27, 2020). Above that floor, states set the details. Most allow preregistration before 18, and some let 17-year-olds vote in primaries if they will be 18 by the general election (Ballotpedia News, September 26, 2025). NPR has reported on state efforts to raise youth registration, including preregistration (NPR, August 6, 2023).

Turnout data show both engagement and variation. CIRCLE estimates that about 47 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds voted in 2024, with large differences by state (CIRCLE, April 14, 2025).

Journalism codes draw the same line the case draws. The SPJ code tells journalists to “label advocacy and commentary” (SPJ Code of Ethics, September 6, 2014). The RTDNA code says journalism “empowers viewers, listeners and readers to make more informed decisions for themselves; it does not tell people what to believe or how to feel” (RTDNA Code of Ethics, June 11, 2015). A nonpartisan guide for Dec should meet that second standard.

Key terms in this passage

Sample ballot

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.

Voter guide

A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.

Registration

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.

Jurisdiction

A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.

Claim

A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.

Material connection

A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.

Real sources cited

• Vote.gov, “Your state or territory’s voting information,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Constitution Center, “The 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• The National WWII Museum, ““Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote”: The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment,” October 27, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Ballotpedia News, “Most states allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before turning 18, and some let them vote in primaries,” September 26, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Some states are trying to boost youth voter registration. Here's what they're doing,” August 6, 2023. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCLE (Tufts University), “New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024,” April 14, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), “SPJ Code of Ethics,” 2014. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), “RTDNA Code of Ethics,” 2015. Open the source (opens in a new tab)

Jurisdiction, information and the first ballot

The story: Two first-time voters, two ballots

Dec turns 18 in October, before the general election on November 3, 2026. His feed has taught him that the election is about one race. At the library desk on Sunday, Mateo, 22, and Gia, 21, help him read a sample ballot that says otherwise. Beneath the federal race sit a state senate seat, a judicial retention, two school board seats, a city council seat and Measure T, a transit improvements bond. Mateo observes that no one is posting about Measure T.

A creator’s voter guide circulates in the group chat. It combines one apparent fact, that registration closes “the 14th,” with two unexplained recommendations: a school board candidate described as “the only one who cares about students” and “yes, obviously” on Measure T. Dec rejects the premise that he needs someone to choose for him. His questions are practical and prior to any choice. What is on his ballot, and is he registered in time?

Mateo’s situation adds a complication many college students share. He moved from New Bedford, Massachusetts, for school and may still be registered at his mom’s address. If so, his ballot, his deadline and even his election office differ from Dec’s. He plans to check that night.

Your role is to find Dec’s official sample ballot before anyone tells him how to vote.

Information versus recommendation

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot. A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election. Treating the two as interchangeable is the core error the case targets. The sample ballot defines the decision set. A guide proposes a way through it.

The analysis draws on the ladder of earlier skills. Lesson 1 established that a claim must be checked against an original source. The guide’s deadline fails that test because it lacks a jurisdiction, so it cannot be confirmed for any reader. Lesson 8 established the importance of a material connection, a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. The guide omits its author and funding. That omission does not show bias, but it removes the information a reader needs to weigh its recommendations.

A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority. Jurisdiction operates twice here. It determines which contests a voter sees, since ballots are assembled by address. It also determines which office can act on an issue. A voter concerned about transit needs to know which body runs the buses before evaluating Measure T or a council candidate.

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote. Gia’s reminder models responsible civic communication under uncertainty. It gives no deadline, because none would be accurate for everyone. It points to Vote.gov for each person’s own registration and ballot, and it asks people not to post their addresses in the chat.

Rights, rules and professional norms

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment sets a national floor, protecting the vote for citizens 18 and older (National Constitution Center, no date listed). Its history is tied to the wartime argument “old enough to fight, old enough to vote” (The National WWII Museum, October 27, 2020). Implementation belongs largely to the states. Most allow preregistration, and some permit 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they will be 18 by the general election (Ballotpedia News, September 26, 2025). States have pursued other measures to raise youth registration as well (NPR, August 6, 2023).

Participation is substantial and uneven. CIRCLE estimates that about 47 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds voted in 2024, with wide variation across states (CIRCLE, April 14, 2025). National Voter Registration Day coverage has emphasized registering people for elections “up and down the ballot” (PBS NewsHour, September 19, 2023).

Professional codes offer a template for a nonpartisan guide. The SPJ code instructs journalists to “label advocacy and commentary” (SPJ Code of Ethics, September 6, 2014). The RTDNA code holds that journalism “does not tell people what to believe or how to feel” (RTDNA Code of Ethics, June 11, 2015). The NCA credo endorses “sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant decisions, while also respecting privacy and confidentiality” (NCA Credo for Ethical Communication, 2024). Gia’s request that no one post an address applies that last clause to a group chat.

Key terms in this passage

Sample ballot

A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.

Voter guide

A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.

Registration

Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.

Jurisdiction

A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.

Claim

A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.

Material connection

A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.

Real sources cited

• Vote.gov, “Your state or territory’s voting information,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Constitution Center, “The 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” No date listed. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• The National WWII Museum, ““Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote”: The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment,” October 27, 2020. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Ballotpedia News, “Most states allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before turning 18, and some let them vote in primaries,” September 26, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• NPR, “Some states are trying to boost youth voter registration. Here's what they're doing,” August 6, 2023. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCLE (Tufts University), “New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024,” April 14, 2025. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• PBS NewsHour, “New state and local efforts try get more people to vote,” September 19, 2023. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), “SPJ Code of Ethics,” 2014. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), “RTDNA Code of Ethics,” 2015. Open the source (opens in a new tab)
• National Communication Association (NCA), “Credo for Ethical Communication,” 2024. Open the source (opens in a new tab)