Voters and Voter Behavior Chapter 6: The Right to Vote, Voter Qualifications, Suffrage and Civil Rights, and Voter Behavior

Voting and the Constitution The qualifications for voting are not spelled out in the Constitution. Therefore, the states determine qualifications for voting. At our founding, only white land owners could vote.

Expanding Voting Rights 15th Amendment ensured that all former male slaves could vote 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote 24th Amendment eliminated poll tax 26th Amendment gave 18 years olds right to vote

Universal Voting Requirements Citizenship = voters must be citizens of the US, either native born or naturalized. Residency = voters must have residency in state. Age = voters must be at least 18 years old.

Important Voting Laws Voting Rights Act of 1965 ensured African Americans enfranchisement in the South The 1993 Motor Voter Law made it easy for people to register to vote when getting their driver ’ s license.

Preclearance for southern states The Voting Rights Act demanded preclearance from those states with a history of voter discrimination against African Americans Preclearance meant that any changes in voting district boundaries, election requirements, or polling places needed approval from Justice Department.

Voting Rights Act Preclearance Changed by Supreme Court Preclearance was required in states that historically showed discrimination toward African American voters. The Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Voting Rights Act in a 5-4 decision in states can now change their voting laws without Federal approval.

The Debate Over Voter Registration Requirements The Court’s decision was supported by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. The new focus of debate is over whether voters should be required to show a photo ID? One side argues that ID’s protect against voter fraud, the other says it is voter suppression.

Voter Behavior A little over half of all US eligible voters, cast ballots during Presidential elections. Just a little over a third voted in off year elections, such as These are often called midterm elections. An off year election is when voters are not choosing a President.

People who cannot vote Some Americans are barred from voting including: Resident aliens who are not citizens Some people in mental health facilities. Some states bar felons from voting.

Why don’t people vote? People who think things are going well and they don’t bother voting People who don’t think their votes counts. These people are said to not have a sense of political efficacy. Some people are put off by difficult registration procedures or long ballots.

Who doesn’t vote? The highest percentage of non voters come from the following groups: Low income Americans Young people People with the lowest levels of education People from the South and rural areas People with low party identification

Sociological Factors in Voting More Likely to Vote Democrat Low Income Individuals Women Younger Voters Catholics Jews African Americans Mexican Americans Big Cities in North, East, and West More Likely to Vote Republican Higher Income Individuals College Graduates Men Older Voters Protestants Cuban Americans Southerners

Party Identification Voters with strong party identification tend to do straight ticket voting (Vote for all Democrats or all Republicans) Voters with weak party identification are more likely to do split-ticket voting.