Are you walking around with your “I Voted!” sticker proudly adhered to your chest? If not, get out there and do some lever pulling, chad punching, and ballot dropping. Then take the rest ofthe day off and watch one of these movies that’ll get you through the rest of election day and away from the nail-biting edge of election return coverage. There are a few minor spoilers inside, but don’t view that as me messing with the ballot box. You’ll still love the movies more than CNN’s infographics.

Citizen Kane

Yes, it’s the grandaddy at the top of every “best of” list, but people don’t really think of it as an election film. However, there’s an election right in the heart of it. Charles Foster Kane runs for the governorship of New York, and has a good chance of winning until he’s at the heart of a scandal involving a woman and the incumbent governor, Boss Jim W. Gettys. His campaign speech in front of the enormous poster of himself is one of the most iconic images from the film, and also the turning point for his ultimate fall from grace in the film.

The Candidate

Robert Redford’s darkly comic film about a race for one of the California senate seats shows how volatile and tupsy-turvy politics can be. Peter Boyle is supposed to find someone to unseat a popular Republican Senator, but know that they are so far ahead it won’t matter who he gets. Eventually he goes after the extremely unlike candidate Bill McKay, played by Redford, and tells him it doesn’t matter what he does, he’s going to lose. So he’s free to do what he wants on the campaign trail. However, he finally decides he doesn’t want to go down by a landslide and fights back, eventually even winning the race. In the famous scene at the end, Redford finds Boyle and asks, “What do we do now?” America might very well be asking that question tomorrow.

The Contender

Joan Allen has had a couple of brushes with the White House. She played first lady Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, for which she received an Academy Award nomination, and inThe Contender she plays a Democratic senator from Ohio who becomes the new Vice-Presidential nominee when the President (Jeff Bridges) has his own VP die while in office. It’s a well-acted exploration of sexual politics, and revolves around an event that may or may not have happened to Allen’s character in college. Gary Oldman vamps it up as a congressman who blocks Allen’s appointment, Jeff Bridges make a terrific president and Sam Elliot is a wonderfully hardassed Chief of Staff, but it’s really Joan Allen who amazes in this film.

Bob Roberts

Tim Robbins’ film about a folksy Pennsylvania senate candidate who learns how to manipulate the system was actually based on a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1986 featuring Robbins as the same character. It’s full of twangy music, borrows heavily from Bob Dylan, and turns sinister towards the end with a possibly faked assassination attempt that puts Roberts in office. The songs are the most memorable part of the film, although the soundtrack was never released because Tim Robbins didn’t want the songs to be played out of context. Like… as a John McCain rally song, which would have sent Robbins into fits of apoplexy.

Election

It might take place in the halls of high school, but it’s a snapshot not just of the formative years of teenager, but of the entire political process as well. Easily Reese Witherspoon’s best film, her evil and vindictive Tracy Flick isn’t someone you want to cross, or even run against. Although if your opponent is the sickly sweet Chris Klein (who even votes for Tracy), then you don’t really have to worry about competition. Matthew Broderick desperately tries to stop her rise to power, which provides some of the funniest moments in the film, including a recount scandal that rivals the Bush/Gore election.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

They don’t make films like this anymore, and Washington would certainly never give us an ending this neat and clean, but it’s one of Jimmy Stewart’s most endearing roles and it’s still inspirational some 50 years later. It has the best filibuster ever on film, although the confessional moment at the end would never happen in today’s political climate. Stewart’s Smith is still the kind of character you can get behind and root for today, and should probably be required viewing upon assuming any office in D.C.

Primary Colors

Based on the book that was inspired by Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, John Travolta actually does a decent job as a southern governor running for office in this Mike Nichols film. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since this movie came out, although it was a bit too late to ride on the coattails of the book two years earlier. When the novel came out by “Anonymous” (later revealed to be journalist Joe Klein) it was on everyone’s lips. Besides Travolta’s Clinton impersonation, the movie didn’t generate nearly as many waves. Still, it’s worth watcing on this Election Tuesday, if nothing other than to tweak your nostalgia circuit.

Wag the Dog

This movie is mostly terrific for Dustin Hoffman’s excellent Robert Evans impersonation throughout the movie. He plays a Hollywood producer brought in by De Niro’s political spin doctor character to create a fake war in order to distract from the President’s ongoing sex scandal. It proves to be ridiculously successful, and is loosely based on Larry Beinhart’s novel American Hero. Although in the book the president is George H.W. Bush, and the war Opeation Desert Storm. Still, it works a bit better as a dark comedy rather than being based on actual events, although Beinhart’s book is well worth reading.

Nixon

I wasn’t originally a fan of this Oliver Stone movie, but it’s been playing on cable a lot the past month, and I usually end up watching it whenever I flip channels. Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Nixon is incredibly intricate, showing both his paranoid side, and his detached loneliness. As Paul Sorvino’s Henry Kissinger in the film says, “Can you imagine what this man would be like had anyone ever loved him?” It’s also a slap the the face to W, which doesn’t even feel like an Oliver Stone movie. Nixon has teeth, W is a softball. Probably one of Hopkins’ meatiest roles as an actor, and the DVD version with 28 minutes of extra footage will get you through the entire night.

Recount

When HBO announced this film, I remember cringing and thinking “Won’t the controversy ever go away? It’s like pouring salt in an open wound!” Then I saw the movie, and I loved it. However, I can’t watch it all the way through because I get incredibly angry whenever I see it. Forget about what would have happened if Nixon was loved. What about what our country would be like now if Gore had been elected. How different would things be now? Would we be at war? Would the economy be in the toilet? We’ll never know, but this film really gives you a hard look at the process that put Bush in office, and how full of holes (and dangling chads) it really is.