Elections/voting Election Campaigns Expanding Voting Rights Influences on Voters

Election Campaigns Electing the President ◦ Electoral Votes and the states (must will 270 of 538 electoral votes)  Winner takes all – puts emphasis on winning “key” states ◦ Campaign Strategy and Organization  Planning how to take key states  What agenda/slogans win votes  Campaign managers plot the strategy ◦ Using TV and the Internet  Packaging the candidate’s “image” is huge  Debates, TV ads

Election campaigns Financing Campaigns  Regulating Campaign Financing  Public Disclosure  Limits on amount an individual can give to a candidate  Pubic Funding  Federal Funding offered to help “even the playing field”  To accept the funding, candidate must agree to limit spending  Private Funding  Individuals limited to $2000 contributions to individual candidates  Political Action Committees can raise and contribute unlimited amounts to political parties (not candidates)  Campaign law and the Internet  Websites spending more than $250 on a campaign or issue must register with the government

Expanding voting rights Early Voting Limitation  Rich White Men with land  States expanded voting rights before the federal government did Women’s Suffrage  Women fought for decades for the right to vote  19 th Amendment (1920) extended voting rights to women

Expanding Voting Rights African American Suffrage  15 th Amendment: post Civil War – extended voting rights to African American men. Blocked in the South after reconstruction  Grandfather Clause – could only vote if your grandfather had voted  Literacy Tests – rigged tests to deny African Americans voting rights  Poll Taxes – Poor African Americans were charged money to vote  Voting Rights Acts (1965) – The federal government enforced the right to vote for all. 26 th Amendment  Lowered the age to vote to 18  In reaction to the Vietnam war and the draft

Qualifications to vote 1) You are a citizen of the United States 2) You are 18 or older 3) You are not a convicted felon 4) You have not been declared mentally incompetent by a court 5) You are a legal resident of your state 6) You have registered to vote Voting qualifications left up to the states. Cannot use race, gender, religion or ethnicity.

Does Your Vote Count? Each person’s vote counts !!!! Many elections of been decided by narrow margins  G. W. Bush/Al Gore 2000 Presidential Election  Bush won Florida by 538 votes IS HEARD The only way your voice IS HEARD is when you vote

Registering to Vote Requirements set by state law formation/Pages/RegistertoVote.aspx formation/Pages/RegistertoVote.aspx In Washington State ◦ 30 days prior to election (by mail, online) ◦ 7 days prior to election (in person)

Preparing to Vote Voters Pamphlets Radio, TV, Internet ads Mailings Word of those you trust/agree with

How Do I Choose a Candidate? 1) Do they stand for the things I think are important? 2) Is the candidate reliable and honest? 3) Does the candidate have relevant past experience? 4) Will the candidate be effective in office? 5) Does the candidate have good political connections? 6) Does the candidate have a real chance of winning?

Influences on Voters Personal Background of the Voter Age*Other Background Influences Loyalty to Political Parties  Strong vs. Weak Affiliation  Cross-Pressure Voters  Independent Voters Issues in the Campaign  Topical Issues  Personal Issues The Candidate’s Image  How the candidate is “perceived” Propaganda  Uses info that supports a predetermined objective  “Red, White & Blue, Patriotic”  “Radical/Extreme”