Unit 4 Voters and Vote Behavior

Unit 2 – Test #2 1st Quarter

Unit 2 – Voters and Vote Behavior

I. The Right to Vote

A. The History of Voting Rights

 The Framers of the Constitution purposely left the power to set suffrage qualifications to each State.  What do suffrage and franchise mean?

1. Expansion of the Electorate  When the Constitution went into effect in 1789, who was allowed to vote?

 Today the size of the American electorate (potential voting population) is around 210 million people  Who is allowed to vote today?

 That big number is a result of some 200 years of continuing, often bitter and sometimes violent struggle.  The history of suffrage has been marked by two long-term trends:

i. The gradual elimination of restrictions on the right to vote ii. The State’s power over the right to vote has been assumed by the Federal government.

2. Extending Suffrage: The Five Stages  The growth of the American electorate to its present size and shape has come in five fairly distinct stages:

Time Frame Description of stage

1st Stage

2nd Stage

3rd Stage

4th Stage

5th Stage

1 Unit 2 – Test #2 1st Quarter

II. Voter Qualifications

A. Universal Requirements

 Today, every state requires that any person who wants to vote must be able to satisfy qualifications based on (3) factors:

1. Citizenship  Aliens – foreign-born residents who have not become citizens – are generally denied the right to vote in the United States.  It is up to states to regulate this – What is the law in Pennsylvania?

2. Residence  In order to vote in this country, one must be a legal resident of the State in which he or she wishes to cast a ballot.  What are the (2) reasons this requirement is adopted?

i. ii.

 Transients (persons living in a State for only a short time) are prohibited from voting in nearly every state.

3. Age th  26 Amendment said states may not set the minimum age for voting in any election at more than 18. (States can go less if they choose)  What is the impact of 18-20 year olds on voting?

B. Other Qualifications

 The States have imposed a number of other qualifications over time.

1. Registration – (only state qualification that survived)  Procedure of voter identification intended to prevent fraudulent voting.  A prospective voter must register his/her name, age, place of birth, present address, length of residence, and similar facts.  What is purging?

 Some people argue that the registration requirement is bar to voter turnout, especially among the poor and less-educated.  In 1993 Congress passed a law dubbed “the Motor- Voter Law” – What did this do?

2. Literacy

 Today not state has a suffrage qualification based on voter literacy – a persons ability to read or write.  States had these in place to keep a group away from the polls – African Americans, Native American, Irish Catholic immigrants.  What eliminated all of these requirements?

3. Tax Payment  Poll tax = payment of a tax in order to vote.  Beginning with Florida in 1889, each of the 11 southern states enacted this to keep African-Americans away from the polls. th  The 24 Amendment to the Constitution ended this in 1964

4. Persons Denied the Vote  Some states deny the right to vote to certain persons:  People in mental institutions  Persons found legally incompetent  Persons convicted of serious crimes.

III. Suffrage and Civil Rights

A. The 15 th Amendment - 1870

 First step in the effort to extend the franchise to African Americans.  What does it declare?

 Yet for almost 90 years (1870-1960), the Federal government paid little attention to voting rights for African Americans.  During this period, blacks were kept from the polls by a mix of violence, literacy tests, poll taxes and other devices:  What is gerrymandering?

 What were “White Primaries”?

 These were eventually ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

B. Early Civil Rights Legislation

Set up a Civil Rights Commissions to investigate claims of Civil Rights Act 1957 voter discrimination and gave the attorney general power to prevent interference with anyone’ right to vote

Civil Rights Act 1960

C. The Civil Rights Act of 1964

 This Act was much broader and more effective than either two of the earlier measures.  Outlawed discrimination in several areas – especially job related matters.  It relied on judicial action to overcome racial barriers.  DEFINE injunction

 Dr. Martin Luther King and his voter registration march in Selma, Alabama were met with violence - showing a need for new and stronger legislation.  His registration efforts were met with violence from local white civilians and even police officers.  What played a role in getting the nation’s attention?

D. The Voting Rights Act of 1965

 This act applied to all elections held anywhere in this country – state and local as well as federal.  Originally, the Act was to be in effect for 5 years but Congress has extended its life three times.  What were the (2) main parts of the Voters Rights Act of 1965?

1. Preclearance  No new election laws and no changes in existing election laws could go into effect unless first approved (given preclearance) by the Justice Dept.  What are changes that must be approved?

2. Amendments to the Act  Additions to the law include: extensions for existing provisions and help for language minorities (ballots in several languages)

IV. Voter Behavior

A. Nonvoters

 There are quite some legitimate reasons for not voting – but the troubling fact remains that most of the millions who do not vote cannot claim those reasons.

B. The Size of the Problem

 Case in point Election Day 2000: those eligible to vote (205.8 million) and 105.4 million did vote (51.2%) – How many people did not vote at all?

 Off-year elections, which are the congressional elections in between a President’s term, have even lower rates of voter turnout.  What does it mean to be a “nonvoting voter”?

 One reason for nonvoting is “ballot fatigue” – many voters get exhaust their patience and/or knowledge as they work they way down the ballot.

C. Why People Do Not Vote

1. “Cannot-Voters” Who How many? Resident aliens 10 million Sick/disabled 5 – 6 million Travelers 2 – 3 million Mentally ill 500, 000 Prisoners 2 million

2. Actual Nonvoters  Election 2000 = about 80 million Americans who could have voted  There are any number of reasons for not voting:  Belief that it makes no difference who wins  Others are satisfied with the political world as they it.  What is political efficacy and why do people have it?

3. Factors Affecting Turnout  Cumbersome election procedures (registration, long lines and ballots) and bad weather can also effect turnout.  What is the ‘time-zone fallout’?

 A simple factor is, purely and simply, a lack of interest!

4. Comparing Voters and Nonvoters  One useful way to get a handle on the problem of nonvoting is to contrast those who go to the polls regularly and those who do not:

Voters Non-Voters

D. Voters and Voter Behavior

 Voting has been studied more closely than any other form of political participation.  Why is this? The importance of the topic and the great amount of data available

1. Studying Voting Behavior  Most of what is known about voter behavior comes from (3) sources:

The results of particular elections The field of survey research Studies of political socialization

E. Sociological Factors

 Sociology is the study of groups and how people behave within groups.

1. Income, Occupation  Voters in lower income brackets are more likely to be Democrats; higher incomes tend to be Republican.  What about occupations?

2. Education  College grads vote for Republicans in higher percentages than do high school grads; High school grads vote GOP more than grade school grads.

3. Gender, Age  What is the gender gap in politics?

 Issues such as abortion, health care, military divide men and women.  The Democrats tend to get the younger vote, and older voters tend to vote Republican.

4. Religious, Ethnic Background

Group Politics and why? Northern Protestants Catholics

Jewish

African-Americans

Latinos

5. Geography  The part of the country, the State, and/or locale also has an impact on voter behavior.  What was the ‘Solid South’?

 Size of the community = Democrats get the big cities in the North and east; Republicans seem to dominate suburban and rural areas.

6. Family and other Groups  Typically, the members of a family vote in strikingly similar ways.  Married couples vote the same way 9 out of 10 times.  What role do parents play in voter behavior?

F. Psychological Factors

 Psychology is the study of the mind and of individual behavior.

1. Party Identification  A majority of Americans identify with one or the other major parties early in life – and many never change.  They support the party with little regard for the candidate or issues.

 Party identification is the single most significant and last predictor of how a person will vote.  What is straight ticket voting?

 What is split ticket voting?

 Independents = term used to identify those people who have no party affiliation; the number of these are growing in the US.  DESCRIBE the new breed of independent voter.

2. Candidates and Issues  Short-term factors can cause a voter to switch sides in a particular election – candidates and issues are most important of these factors.  How can candidates cause a switch?

 How can issues cause a switch?