GED Social Studies Practice Test: Elections, Voting Rights and Civic Participation
- Elections, Voting Rights and Civic Participation
- 10 questions
- 15 minutes
These questions cover how Americans choose leaders and take part in government. Pay attention to who acts in each scenario: voters, lawmakers or a group outside government.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
How many electoral votes does a candidate need to win the presidency?
Correct answer: B
There are 538 electoral votes, and a majority is 270. The number 269 is exactly half, which would be a tie.
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Question 2
How is the number of electoral votes for each state determined?
Correct answer: D
Each state gets one elector for each member of the House of Representatives and one for each of its two senators. That is why larger states have more electoral votes.
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Question 3
Before the general election in November, a political party holds an election in which its members choose who will run as the party's candidate. What is this election called?
Correct answer: A
A primary lets voters pick a party's nominee for the general election. A recall removes an official who is already in office.
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Question 4
How long is the term of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives?
Correct answer: C
House members serve 2-year terms, so the whole House is elected every even-numbered year. Six years is the term of a senator.
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Question 5
A nurses' association meets with state lawmakers and urges them to pass a bill on patient safety. What is this activity called?
Correct answer: B
Lobbying is an effort by an interest group to influence lawmakers. A filibuster is a tactic used by senators themselves to delay a vote.
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Question 6
Some states once charged a fee that citizens had to pay before they could vote. Which amendment banned this kind of tax in federal elections?
Correct answer: A
The Twenty-fourth Amendment, ratified in 1964, banned poll taxes in federal elections. The Nineteenth protected women's voting rights, and the Twenty-sixth set the voting age at 18.
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Question 7
What was the main purpose of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
Correct answer: D
The act targeted literacy tests and similar barriers used mainly against Black voters in the South. Lowering the voting age came in 1971 through the Twenty-sixth Amendment.
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Question 8
A state legislature redraws its election districts so that one party will win most seats even though voters are split almost evenly. What is this practice called?
Correct answer: C
Gerrymandering means drawing district lines to give one party an advantage. Apportionment is dividing House seats among the states by population, which is a different step.
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Question 9
A state legislature passes a new law but places it on the ballot so that voters can approve or reject it. What is this process called?
Correct answer: B
In a referendum, voters decide on a law that the legislature has passed or proposed. In an initiative, by contrast, citizens themselves propose the law by collecting signatures.
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Question 10
Which of these is a responsibility of U.S. citizens rather than a right?
Correct answer: A
Jury service is a duty that citizens are expected to perform when summoned. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech and a fair trial are rights protected by the Bill of Rights.
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