Voter Qualifications

Voting Qualifications  Citizenship – US  Residence - of the state in state/local elections  Age – 18 and older

Voting Qualifications  Every state except ND requires voters to register.  Registration forms are on the internet  In Florida, 16 year olds can pre- register and vote after their 18 th birthday

Voting Qualifications  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.

Who Do You Vote 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

Barack ObamaJohn McCain

Literacy Tests  Reading tests were given to people (Indians and Blacks) that the people in power did not want to vote  The tests were so difficult that college professors could not pass it

Poll Tax  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.

Increased Suffrage  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.

Gerrymandering  It is used today to ensure all people have representatives in government, including minority populations

Gerrymandering  Alcee Hastings, D-FL, has benefited from gerrymandering by creating a district made up of mostly African- Americans

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

Voting Rights Act of 1965  Most of the laws that have gone through the preclearance process have to do with moving polling places or with deadlines.

Chapter 6 Section 4

Idiots  In ancient Greece, citizens who did not vote were called idiotes  In 2000, there were about million voters, but almost half were idiotes who did not vote  There are even more idiotes in off- year elections

Don't Vote

Why Idiots Don’t Vote  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  A typical voter: Higher income Higher education Better occupational status Long time residents Party identification female

Non-Voters  A typical non- voter: Younger than 35 Unmarried Unskilled Lives in south/rural area male

How People Vote  It is easier to determine how some groups of people will vote  Polls also use research to determine election winners  All polls showed that the 2004 election would be decided by less than 2% of the vote. They were right.

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

How People Vote  Sociological factors that can determine who a person votes for include: Income – lower incomes tend to vote Dem; higher=Rep Education – lower education tend to vote Dem; higher=Rep

How People Vote  Sociological factors that can determine who a person votes for include: Age and gender – younger women tend to vote Dem; older males=Rep Religion – Catholics and Jews tend to vote Dem; Prot=Rep

How People Vote  Sociological factors that can determine who a person votes for include: Race – Non-whites tend to vote Dem; white = Rep Region – CA, NY, MA=Dem; TX, KS, ND and Bible Belt=Rep.

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.

How People Vote  Some people vote for their party, regardless of the person running for office.  Straight-ticket voting relates to party affiliation.

How People Vote  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