Chapter 10 Section 1: p

 Early America: most voters were white, adult males who owned property ◦ White adult males who could not afford property, women, African American males, Native American males, and people under 21 were all barred from voting  Today: Constitution states that the right to vote may not be denied because of race, color, gender, or age – if the person is at least 18 ◦ People who have been convicted of serious crimes cannot vote until they have served their sentence  To be eligible to vote a person must be at least 18 years old, resident of the state for a specified period, and a citizen of the US ◦ Most states require you to be registered

 People must register to vote before an election ◦ Most states require registration at least 25 days before an election  Registration requirements vary ◦ Some states permit registration by mail or offering more convenient times and places for in-person registration such as allowing registration at libraries and schools ◦ National Voter Registration Act / Motor Voter Act: requires states to allow people to register when they renew their drivers licenses ◦ Can also mail in registrations or register at state offices  Registering involves filling out a form w/ address, name, age, and party preference ◦ If you register as a Republican or Democrat you will be able to vote in primary elections ◦ When a person registers for the 1 st time they must show proof of citizenship, address, and age by showing a driver’s license or birth certificate  Once you are registered you are assigned to an election district  On Election Day officials will use a list of voters registered in the district to verify that the people who vote are eligible and to prevent multiple votes

 Voters go to a polling place in their precinct o Polling places are normally set up in public buildings  Polling places are generally open from early morning to 7-8PM. ◦ Sample ballot is posted on the wall for voters to study ◦ Once inside, a voter goes to the clerk’s table to sign an application form. ◦ Voter’s name is read aloud and passed to the challenger’s table  Challenger – one from each party – looks up registration info and compares the signature to the signature on the application form ◦ If the two do not match the challenger may ask for additional information ◦ When the challenge is satisfied a person is eligible they initial the form and return it to the voter

 Voter than goes to the election booth when they hand the application form to an election judge ◦ Judges watch over the operation of the voting booths, make sure everyone can vote in secret, and help voters who are physically challenged, elderly, or unable to read  Ballots are cast by voting machines ◦ Two most common are the punch-card machine and the lever machine ◦ Candidate’s names are usually listed according to political party and office they are seeking  All voting machines allow voters to cast a secret ballot ◦ Straight ticket, voting for all the candidates in a political party ◦ Split Ticket: voting for multiple political parties ◦ May also use a write-in vote

 Citizens who cannot get to the polls can vote by absentee ballot ◦ People who know they will be away, too sick to get to the polls, and military personnel often use absentee ballots ◦ Must be requested before Election Day ◦ Marked and returned by mail ◦ On Election Day, or shortly after, election officials open and count the absentee ballot

 Election workers count the votes at the polling place and take the ballots and results – called returns – to the election board ◦ The board then collects and counts the returns for the city or county ◦ Then the board sends the returns to the state canvassing authority who certifies the winner a few days after the election  In major elections the news media and party workers try to predict winners ASAP ◦ Exit polls - asking voters leaving selected polls how they voted  Major TV networks spend the entire night covering presidential elections ◦ They use computerized predictions based on the past voting history of key precincts to call winners ◦ In some cases these are made with less than 10% counted ◦ Sometimes these are incorrect and networks are embarrassed like they were with FL in 2000  Political commenters have criticized these early calls ◦ Predictions usually come when the West Coast has yet to vote. ◦ Observers claim these early projections persuade people in the west to not bother voting