The Election-Day Disaster

by Ron Roy

  Just then a telephone on one of the desks rang. The president’s campaign manager answered, then handed the phone to the president.

  “Hello, Dr. Jury,” the president said.

  On TV, Dr. Jury said, “Congratulations, Mr. President. I’m delighted that you’ll be with us for four more years.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Jury,” the president said. “I hope you’ll come to the White House for lunch someday soon.”

  Dr. Jury laughed. “Can I have pizza?” he asked.

  “I’ll cook it myself,” the president said.

  When the president hung up the phone, the room erupted into whistles, clapping, and foot stomping. From large nets on the ceiling, thousands of red, white, and blue balloons began drifting down. Volunteers were hugging each other, tossing confetti into the air, and opening bottles of champagne.

  KC’s mom gave the president a big kiss, which got everyone whistling again.

  KC and Marshall stuffed themselves on cake and ice cream. They sat at a big round table with the president and vice president, Lois, Yvonne, and Simon.

  “This is so cool,” Marshall said. “We should have an election every year!”

  “No way,” the president said. “Every four years is plenty for me.”

  KC yawned. She closed her eyes and leaned against her mother.

  “Hey, no fair going to sleep,” Simon said from across the table.

  “I wasn’t sleeping,” KC said. “I was just thinking about four more years of solving mysteries from inside the White House!”

  Did you know?

  George Washington was our country’s first president. He was elected by the people. But as far as elections go, his were a breeze. Nobody ran against him! Very few people voted, but every single vote went to George Washington in both 1789 and 1792.

  Today, a person’s vote is secret. It wasn’t always that way. In some of the earliest elections, voters had to say their votes out loud in front of everybody else. Over time, states began using paper ballots because they were easier to count. Also, the states hoped more people would vote if they could keep their choices secret. Voters cast their ballots by dropping a piece of paper into a box.

  Each political party printed up a ballot with the names of its candidates. Then voters just used that ballot to vote. But since each party’s ballot was printed on a different color paper, people could still tell who you were voting for!

  The United States made a new kind of ballot. A blanket ballot lists all the candidates, and voters mark off the names of the people they want to vote for. All states now use blanket ballots, but the way of voting is still different from place to place.

  Some states use big machines that record your vote when you pull levers next to candidates’ names. In other places, you use a special computer to cast your vote. Some people mail in paper ballots. You may even still drop your ballot in a box!

  Photo credits: courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2008 by Ron Roy

  Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Timothy Bush

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House

  Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron.

  The election-day disaster / by Ron Roy; illustrated by Timothy Bush.

  p. cm. — (Capital mysteries; 10)

  “Stepping Stone book.”

  [1. Elections—Fiction. 2. Presidents—Fiction. 3. Washington (D.C.)—

  Fiction. 4. Mystery and detective stories.]

  I. Bush, Timothy, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.R8139Ek 2008 [Fic]—dc22 2007048208

  13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-47791-0

  v3.0