Voters and Voter Behavior Chapter 6 Are YOU Registered to Vote?

Section 1: The Right to Vote All US citizens may register to vote at the age of 18 History of Voting Rights The Framers left voting requirements up to the states. The federal requirements are only the minimum

For example, Amendment 26 lowered the voting age to 18, but states could lower it further. When the Constitution was written, only land-holding, white men could vote. Some individual states allowed women to vote in local elections

Expansion of the Electorate In Puritan New England, only Church members were eligible to vote By 1810, there were no religious qualifications anywhere in America. By 1810, there were no religious qualifications anywhere in America. After the Civil War, the 15 th Amendment was ratified in 1870 which was supposed to allow Black males to vote, regardless of previous condition of servitude. Literacy tests and poll taxes disenfranchised them Literacy tests and poll taxes disenfranchised them

The 19 th Amendment, passed in 1920, gave all adults, including women, could vote. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 prohibited poll taxes so that Blacks could vote freely. In 1961, the 23 rd Amendment allowed residents of D.C. to vote for president The 24 th Amendment, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes The 26 th Amendment gave year olds the right to vote.

Section 2: Voting Qualifications States must allow all people to vote who meet the minimum requirements set by the federal government. Citizenship – US Citizenship – US Residence - of the state in state/local elections Residence - of the state in state/local elections Age – 18 and older Age – 18 and older

Every state except ND requires voters to register. Registration forms are on the internet In Tennessee, you must be 18 to register If a person does not vote for several elections, the rolls are purged and the person’s name is removed.

Who Do You Vote For? Once a person is registered they can vote in federal, state and local elections There are many ways to get information about the people running for office and new laws being voted for.

Most people get their knowledge from TV TV ads are bought by the candidate or the group favoring a particular person or cause. They only tell the positive side of their side and the negative side of the opposition

Literacy Tests & Poll Taxes Reading tests were given to people (Indians and Blacks) that the people in power did not want to vote college professors could not pass it Another way people were disenfranchised was to impose poll taxes. If a voter could not afford the tax they did not vote but the unpaid tax would be added onto future poll taxes

Disenfranchisement Today In the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, voters complained that they were turned away Some in Florida had their names incorrectly removed from the poll books. They did not get to vote.

Section 3: Suffrage & Civil Rights 15 th Amendment gives black males the right to vote Many were kept away by terror tactics, poll taxes, gerrymandering, and literacy tests

Gerrymandering Named after Elbridge Gerry after he drew a district in MA to ensure his associates would win elections.

Civil Rights Act 1964 Initiated by JFK and passed by LBJ, this act prevents discrimination not only with voting, but with employment, housing, admissions, and other areas with racial barriers.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Applied to all elections, local, state and federal Outlawed poll taxes and literacy tests No new state election laws could go into effect before preclearance by the Dept. of Justice Most of the laws that have gone through the preclearance process have to do with moving polling places or with deadlines.

Section 4: Voter Behavior In ancient Greece, citizens who did not vote were called idiotes Cannot vote – physically or mentally ill, religious beliefs Don’t want to – for a lot of reasons, not believing their vote makes a difference Poll closing times – 3-5 hrs earlier in east with results posted early

Voters v. Non voters A typical voter: Higher income Higher income Higher education Higher education Better occupational status Better occupational status Long time residents Long time residents Party identification Party identification female female A typical non-voter: Younger than 35 Younger than 35 Unmarried Unmarried Unskilled Unskilled Lives in south/rural area Lives in south/rural area male male

How People Vote Psychological factors that can determine who a person votes for include: Voter’s characteristics – age, sex, education, religion, income Voter’s characteristics – age, sex, education, religion, income Voter’s affiliations – work, friends, families Voter’s affiliations – work, friends, families

Sociological factors that can determine who a person votes for include: Democrat Republican Democrat Republican lower incomes higher lower incomes higher lower education higher lower education higher younger women older males younger women older males Catholics and Jews Protestant Catholics and Jews Protestant Non-whites white Non-whites white CA, NY, MA TX, KS, ND CA, NY, MA TX, KS, ND and Bible Belt and Bible Belt

How People Vote These are generalizations only and different issues sway voters How much a person feels loyalty to their party, party identification, is a good predictor of how a person will vote. Some people vote for their party, regardless of the person running for office. Straight-ticket voting relates to party affiliation.

Some people, split-ticket voters, vote for candidates, regardless of political party This practice has become more common since the 1960s. Independent voters are likely to do this since they do not belong to a party In the past, independent voters were generally less informed about the candidates or issues. This is not true with new independent voters who tend to be better educated and have higher incomes

p Gradual elimination of restrictions on the right to vote and federal gov’t has taken over right to vote powers 2.Religious gone, blacks, women, Civil Rights for blacks, 18 year olds 3. the voter 4. States can’t restrict what elections you vote in, 15 th, 19 th, 24, and 26 th 5. Fight for my country 6. Voting is of national importance and states had a bad track record

p To stop voter fraud 2.Register to vote when getting a DL, increase voter rolls 3.To know who is eligible to vote, remove people who are not (dead, prison,… 4.Must pay it to vote 5.……. 6.If your male ancestors voted before the civil war, you were exempt from literacy tests and poll taxes. Of course this was never the case for AA

p Drawing districts to limit voting strength of a group, White primary excluded blacks 2. Compels or restrains a public official from and act. 3. Approval by justice department to change a voting law. State must show no discrimination in voting for ten years to bail-out 4. Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights act(1965), all used to strengthen voting rights for minorities 5. People still did not care about black rights, two men murdered 6. White legislators made it harder to pass voting laws to help minorities

p If you don’t feel like you make a difference, you won’t vote 2.Men and women vote differently 3.People who strongly identify with their party generally vote straight ticket 4.Income, occupation, education, gender, age, religion, ethnic, geography, family 5.…….. 6. ……..