Kim Wehle is a wonderful and concise author, well educated in the subject, who informs readers of what they need to know about voting.

This is a great book for anyone wanting to know about Government. It is easy to read and I have used parts of it in my AP Government class.

Pretty dry but does provide some helpful material regarding the constitutional basis for voting, political parties, and the electoral college (as well as possible alternatives). The book also provides key takeaways and discussion questions at the beginning and end of each chapter, respectively. In the last section, however, Wehle really revealed herself as a Republican wolf in bipartisan sheep’s clothing when discussing issues of voter disenfranchisement and voter suppression. While I may be biased, you really cannot talk about these issues in America without acknowledging that it has become an integral part of the Republican party’s platform to ensure that certain groups of people are not allowed to exercise the right to vote, making voter suppression and disenfranchisement two issues in my mind that can't really be discussed in a bipartisan way.

Also will mention that I listened to this book on audio, which I would personally not recommend as there are a lot of website links in the text, which are read out loud letter by letter in the audiobook, which, as you can imagine, got obnoxious incredibly quickly.

An early e-copy of this book was provided to me from Harper Collins (Harper Paperbacks) through Netgalley, so thank you to both the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this copy. What You Need to Know About Voting—And Why is out now.

I read Kim Wehle's book What You Need to Know About the Constitution -- and Why recently and was hoping that she would use the same approach to discuss other topics within civics today so I was happy to hear she wrote another, this time on voting. I appreciate how she breaks down topics and makes them approachable for readers in a way that makes sense. I do discuss her last book in class while teaching U.S. Government and I will definitely do so with this one too.

Considering this is an election year and it's been a while since I've been in school, I thought I would pick this title up for a little refresher. This title is a instruction booklet and guide to the basic ins and outs of voting and what processes affect our ability to vote. The first part guides you through the process of voting, the second part explains what voting is and how it works, and the third part discusses the loopholes and pitfalls in the system that can prevent voting or dishonestly impact it. It was a short read, but very informative.

Many topics discussed I could remember from Government class in school or even History class. But, as an adult, it doesn't hurt to refresh the mind with at least a basic understanding of one of our core civic duties. The author explains the facts, but also explores the reasoning of both sides of the argument with issues such as gerrymandering or money in politics. It was also interesting to see how much of a contrast each state can differ in the voting process, how to vote, who can vote, etc. Aspects of voting most people probably don't think about and honestly probably didn't learn in school.

I gave this title a 3 out of 5 stars. It was a great informative read for being aware of how diligent we should be in the voting process, but also brings an awareness of faults in the system that need to be addressed. The biggest drawback of this title is that it provides website URLs and specific voting requirements by state that can change in the long-term. Much like informative textbooks or certain nonfiction topics, certain areas of the book may need updating as policies and requirements change. Brief, informative read. Would recommend.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VOTING--AND WHY by Kim Wehle is an action-oriented guide to voting. To help readers remember and focus on key points, she uses cute pen and ink drawings and italics to emphasize bottom line ideas such as "Never leave a polling place without casting a provisional ballot." Wehle, a tenured Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and commentator for CBS News, the BBC, and other media outlets, employs a conversational tone to stress the importance of voting and strives for a mostly non-partisan stance. She packs the book with charts (e.g., on absentee ballot requirements and deadlines) for each of the fifty states and offers a "takeaway box" and discussion questions at the end of each chapter. In addition, her legal expertise and detail orientation shines through as she reminds college students that their vote may have more impact in a swing state (whether it be where they attend school or where their parents live, BUT to be sure to check on any impact on financial aid before changing registration).

Subsequent chapters in WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VOTING--AND WHY deal with the "right" to vote and rules for those incarcerated, on parole, or wishing to re-instate voting rights. Wehle also discusses the role of primaries, caucuses and the Electoral College, pointing out that the number of electors are decided by the Census which counts people – not citizens. There are separate chapters on money (hard money, soft money, dark money, and PACs) in politics and on foreign interference (cyberattacks, social media agitation) so students will find this to be an extremely useful primer on current events and trends. In addition to the very helpful information Wehle provides (e.g., the toll free hotline for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is 1-866-OUR-VOTE), related resources are also available at When We All Vote or League of Women Voters or Rock the Vote. Interested readers may also wish to refer to earlier works by Carol Anderson (One Person, No Vote and We Are Not Yet Equal).

Links in Live post:
https://www.whenweallvote.org/
https://www.lwv.org/
https://www.rockthevote.org/

Read if you: Want a succinct look at the basics of the American voting system, including its history and current issues.

Librarians/booksellers: Buy if political books are popular with your patrons. This is a good overview, even for long-term voters.

Many thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Even The Good Parts Will Rapidly Be - Admittedly - Outdated. This was yet another of those books whose premise held such promise, and yet whose execution was sorely lacking. The only redeemable parts of this platitude, inaccuracy, and outright lies that are damn close to libel (but to be absolutely clear do *not*, in my understanding, actually cross that line) filled book are the numerous charts of where the law stands on various issues relating to voter registration, ballot access, and similar State level issues. The rest of the text is at best a series of platitudes about how "vital" voting is and at worst lies such that if the target were not a public figure would likely be a fairly easy libel case. (The standard for libel against a public figure is much higher than the one for just a "normal" private citizen.) The charts are the *only* thing preventing this text from being a "gold mine" level - my singular worst personal rating - and as the author admits every time she discusses one, will be outdated within just a few years and potentially even before this book actually goes to print. This is one of those books that in all honesty I personally would not publish with its existing text, but which could make a buck or two from the charts alone. It is for these charts that I can recommend this book at least for the next couple of months, but other than the charts I would not recommend it at all.

Just to be perfectly clear, I have never supported the current President, nor his predecessor and in all likelihood nor his successor. Instead, I am a person that has a fair degree of expertise in election laws and issues myself, having ran for City Council twice in rural southern Georgia, recruited a Statewide candidate for office in Georgia under a non-D/R Party, been that Party's Legislative Director, ran a Facebook group promoting open ballot access, ran a political blog focusing on various issues including election laws, and even interviewed both Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams as a result of some of those other efforts. I am no law professor as the author is, but I am *far* more knowledgeable about these issues than the average reader and, based on my reading of the text, it seems that I may in fact be more knowledgeable on these issues than the author herself. Despite much of my knowledge being 10 yrs out of date on exact particulars.

This is so important and every American (or curious non-American!) should read this. I consider myself pretty well informed, but even I learned from this. Great for teens as well as adults; start with a good foundation.