Voters and Voter Behavior -The Right to Vote -Voter Qualifications -Suffrage & Civil Rights -Voter Behavior

The Right to Vote Section 1

The history of voting Rights Framers of the Constitution left the power to set suffrage qualifications to each States Suffrage: rights to vote Franchise: synonym for the right to vote

Expansion of the Electorate Electorate: the potential voting population More than 230 million people qualify to vote Two long term trends in American suffrage since 1789: Gradual elimination of several restrictions on the right to vote The Federal Government has assumed more power over the right to vote from the States powers

Extending Suffrage There are 5 stages of expanding voting rights in U.S. history Early 1800s – religious, property, and tax qualifications begin to disappear 1870 – 15th Amendment prohibits voting restrictions based on color and race 1920 – 19th Amendment removes voting restrictions based on sex 1965 – The Voting Rights Act of 1965 enforces racial equality at polling places 1971 – 26th Amendment sets the minimum voting age at 18

The Power to Set Voting Qualifications Each state must allow a person to vote in all elections in the state, including the House and the Senate No State can ban a person from voting based on their race, color, or previous status of servitude (being a former slave) [15th Amendment] No State can ban any person the right to vote based on their sex [19th Amendment] No State can require a payment or tax in order to vote in any election [24th Amendment] No State can ban any person who is at least 18 years old from voting [26th Amendment]

Voter Qualifications Section 2

Universal Requirements Three factors to be eligible to vote: Citizenship States decide native born & naturalized citizens Aliens have generally been denied the right to vote, but nothing in the Constitution says they cannot vote and a State could allow them to vote if they chose

Universal Requirements Three factors to be eligible to vote: Residence A person must be a legal resident of the State in which they wish to vote in In most States a person must have lived in the State for a certain period of time before they can vote Almost every State prohibits transients (person who lives in a State for only a short amount of time) from gaining legal status in the State

Universal Requirements Three factors to be eligible to vote: Age The 26th Amendment sets the minimum age for voting at 18. “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote” during the Vietnam War Any State can set the age at less than 18 if they choose

Registration Registration: procedure of voter identification to prevent fraudulent voting Gives election officials a list of persons qualified to vote Several States use registration list as a means to identify political party affiliation – used specifically for closed primary elections

Registration Requirements 49 States, except North Dakota, require voters to be registered to cast a ballot in an election Registration cutoff dates vary per State Typically a prospective voter must register their name, age, place of birth, present address, and length of residence Remain registered unless or until you move, die, convicted of a serious crime, or committed to a mental institution

Controversies Should the registration requirement be abolished everywhere? Should you need a Voter ID to vote?

Literacy and Tax Payments Suffrage qualifications based on literacy aand tax payments were once fairly common among States No longer allowed in any State

Suffrage and Civil Rights Section 3

The 15th Amendment Ratified in 1870 Declares the right to vote cannot be denied to any citizen of the United States because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude It was a general principle without providing the means of enforcement It did not protect against loopholes to keep African Americans from voting [ex: poll taxes, “white primaries”, gerrymandering, etc. 1944: The Supreme Court outlawed the white primaries in the Texas case Smith v. Allwright 1960: The Supreme Court outlawed gerrymandering used for racial discrimination in Gomillion v. Lightfoot

The 15th Amendment Civil Rights Act of 1957 created the the U.S. Commissions on Civil Rights to inquire into claims of voter discrimination Civil Rights Act of 1960 provided appointments of federal voting referees to serve anywhere a federal court found voter discrimination and helped qualified persons register to vote Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed the discrimination based on several factors including race or color. It also outlawed literacy tests

Voting Rights ACT OF 1965 Made the 15th Amendment an effective piece of the Constitution Applied to ALL elections held in the U.S. Outlawed poll taxes and literacy tests No new election laws or changes to existing election laws can go into effect without the approval of the Department of Justice

Voter Behaviors Section 4

What Are Your Options? How many choices does a candidate have in a two-candidate race in the U.S.?

The Right to Vote Your five options as U.S. voters: Vote FOR candidate A Vote FOR candidate B Vote AGAINST candidate A Vote AGAINST candidate B Don’t vote for either candidate

2008 Election Turnout Stats 228 million people were of voting age 131 million voted in the presidential election [60%] 121 million voted in the congressional election [53%]

Nonvoting Off-year elections (congressional elections between presidential elections) have even lower voter turnout than even-numbered years Ballot fatigue – the further down a ballot an officials office is the more likely the voter loses patience and/or knowledge More people vote in general elections than in primary or special elections

Why People Do Not Vote Cannot-Voters Ex: Resident Aliens Ill or physically disabled Mental illness Traveling unexpectedly Imprisoned Religious beliefs - idolatry

Why People Do Not Vote Nonvoters Convinced it makes little difference No matter the election outcome it will be okay Feel alienated – don’t trust the political process Political efficacy – believe the government is ineffective Inconvenience of registration requirements Time-zone fallout

Studying Voting Behavior Results of particular elections Field of survey research Gallop Organization Pew Research Center Studies of political socialization Process in which people gain their political attitudes and opinions

Factors That Influence Voters A voter’s personal characteristics A voter’s group affiliation Age Family Race Co-workers Income Friends Occupation Education Religion

Sociological Factors ***Each voter possesses not just one factor, but several factors*** Income and Occupation Education Gender & Age Religion & Ethnic Background Geography Family and Other Groups http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls

Psychological Factors Party Identification = the loyalty of people to a particular political party Most significant predictor of how a person will vote Straight ticket voting: voting for only one party in an election Split ticket voting: voting for candidates of more than one party – has increased over the years Independents: individuals who do not identify with a single political party

Psychological Factors Candidates and Issues Impression of the candidate Candidates personality, character, style, past record, appearance, etc. Emotional content of issues Voter’s awareness of issues The candidates opinion/stance on certain issues