Voting Copy all of the notes that are in bold and any slides that state “copy slide” into your “notes” section of your notebook.

Expanding Voting Rights In colonial times and during the early years of our country, men had to prove that they owned property land in order to be able to vote. Where did this idea come from? English laws and customs

Suffrage Suffrage – The Right To Vote Mid 1800’s – Universal white adult male suffrage Post Civil War: 1870 15th Amendment: All adult men were guaranteed the right to vote Including African Americans

Suffrage cont. Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote in 1869 Post World War I: 19th Amendment: 1920 Women were guaranteed the right to vote

Suffrage cont. Indian Citizenship Act – 1924 - American Indians were given U.S. citizenship and the right to vote 23rd Amendment – 1961 - Gave residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote 26th Amendment – 1971 – Influenced by the Vietnam war, the voting age changed from 21 to 18

African American Suffrage (do NOT copy) 15th Amendment (1870) states that no state can deprive any citizen the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude Southern states set up a number of roadblocks to limit and discourage African Americans from voting

African American Suffrage cont. Grandfather Clause – only voters whose grandfathers had voted were eligible to vote without paying a tax or taking a literacy test Literacy Test – required to pass to qualify to vote Poll Tax – pay some money in order to vote Gerrymandering - drawing electoral district lines If the laws didn’t work at discouraging African Americans to vote, local people would use fear, harassment, and violence

Civil Rights Movement African Americans & Others begin to fight for rights in 1950’s and 60’s

Voting Rights Act of 1965 - serves to protect and enforce the 15th Amendment (Do NOT Copy)) Timeline: (do not copy timeline) March 7, 1965 - Bloody Sunday - About 600 non-violent voting rights marchers heading to Montgomery, Alabama's state capital, are attacked by state troopers in Selma. March 15, 1965 - President Lyndon Johnson, in a speech before a joint session of Congress says: "There is no constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution is plain. There is no moral issue. It is wrong, deadly wrong, to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country." August 6, 1965 - Is signed into law by President Johnson to protect and enforce the 15th Amendment.

Sates can no longer discriminate Copy Slide Voting Rights Act of 1965: Protect the 15th Amend. Ensured that everyone voted: Sates can no longer discriminate Federal (National) Inspectors ensure that all people are voting Outlawed literacy test 24th Amendment: ends poll tax

You can vote if… You are a U.S. citizen You meet your state's residency requirements. You are 18 year old. YOU CAN NOT VOTE IF: You are not permitted due to a court order (some felons).

Register to Vote!

Voting Procedures Polling place – where you vote Precinct – a voting district. Each town/city is divided into precincts containing from 200 to 1,000 voters Most states have touch screen voting machines.

What are we voting for? National Elections: House of Representatives: 2 year terms Senators: 6 year terms We select all our representatives and 1/3 of our senators in congress every two years We elect a President every 4 years What else do we vote on? Local/State Policies & Offices

Nevada (do not copy) Senators: Dean Heller -Republican, Next Election in 2018! Catherine Cortez Masto -Democrat, Next Election in 2022 Representatives- Up for re-election in 2018! Dina Titus -Democrat Mark Amodei -Republican Jacky Rosen -Democrat Ruben Kihuen -Democrat

Nevada Congressional Districts

Gerrymandering

Voting for who will be President? First, we nominate a candidate. Candidates begin campaigning (advertising, touring, debating) about a year before election day Election laws vary state to state. Candidates reach the ballot through one of these methods: Caucus - local members of a political party register their preference among candidates running for office or select delegates to attend a convention Nominating convention – official public meeting of a party to choose candidates Primary election – party members choose who to run in the general election Petition – specified number of voters sign the petition to have a candidate placed on a ballot

Nominating a Pres/VP Canidate National Conventions (Republican Convention & Democrat Convention) Appointed or elected delegates representing all 50 states and the US territories attend the convention The delegates select a “ticket” Ticket – candidates for President and Vice President

How do we elect our President Election Day: the Tuesday after the first Monday in November Electoral College: The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state's entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators.

Electing a President Winner Takes All! The candidate who wins the greatest number of popular votes in any state usually receives all of those state’s electoral votes If a canidate won the 11 largest states (population), he/she would obtain the 270 electoral votes to win the presidency Why do we have this system? Do you think it is a good system? Why or why not?