American Government Unit 4 Chapter 6: Voters and Voter Behavior

Bellringer Have all adult Americans always had the right to vote? Which groups had been excluded from voting earlier in US history? Which groups are excluded today?

I. The Right to Vote A) The History of Voting Rights Suffrage – right to vote Franchise – synonym for the right to vote Electorate – voting population Disenfranchised – citizens denied the right to vote. Poll tax – tax to have to pay to vote 1) removed religious and property qualifications by 1850’s 2) 15 Amendment gave African American men 3) 19 th Amendment gave women suffrage 4) Voting Rights Act of 1965 – secured African Americans suffrage 5) 26 th Amendment – 18 year olds

B) The Power to Set Voting Qualifications States have power except 5 restrictions the Federal government place on States. 1) Same voters must be allowed to vote in each election 2) Cant deprive people from voting based on race 3) Sex 4) No poll taxes 5) 18 years old

Review

II. Voter Qualifications

Objectives Identify the universal qualifications for voting in the US. Explain the other requirements that States use or have used as voting qualifications.

A) Universal Requirements Must be a citizen to vote – can allow Aliens but none have Aliens – foreign-born residents Must live in the state you vote in (30days) Transients – persons who live in a state for only a short time (college) 18 years – can make it lower (17)

B) Registration Registration – procedure of voter identification to prevent fraudulent voting. Usually 30 days – some allow day of vote Purging – remove names from the registered voting lists Poll books – official lists of qualified voters in each precinct Motor Voter Act – law passed to make it easier to vote – DMV and by mail

C) Literacy, Tax Payment Some states made people pass a literacy test to vote – make sure educated people voted Usually used to stop immigrants and African Americans from suffrage Grandfather clauses – laws that allowed people to bypass literacy or poll taxes. Poll tax used to discourage African Americans Mental institutions, felonies, dishonorable discharged

Review

Bellringer What does this picture say about voting?

III. Suffrage and Civil Rights Voting has been a life or death issue for some In the Deep South – civil rights workers suffered arrest, beatings, electric shocks with cattle prods, even death.

A) 15 th Amendment 1870 – 15 th Amendment passed – didn’t say anything about enforcing it – 90 years until reality Literacy tests, poll taxes, “white primaries” and Gerrymandering Gerrymandering – draw electoral boundaries to limit voting strength of a group 1944 – Smith v. Allwright outlawed white primaries 1960 – Gomillion v. Lightfoot outlawed racial gerrymandering Using Supreme Court - slow

Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Born in Atlanta from a prosperous family. Did not graduate HS but enrolled in college at degrees in Theology, 1 in Sociology, and a PhD in Philosophy. Montgomery Bus Boycott (Carpool insurance) – 1955 – Rosa Parks – 1 year Picked 27 year old King Studied Gandhi – civil disobedience – non-violence. Used church organizations for Civil Rights – allowed Birmingham 1963 – arrested to fill the jails – used children – sheriff used water houses – TV – 2 months 1963 March on Washington – I have a dream 6:01, Memphis Tennessee, April 4 th, 1968

Videos Last speech - Kuv8 Kuv8 Cronkite – assassination xKvo xKvo Pride - Dx8h4&feature=related Dx8h4&feature=related RFK (no riots) – xrA&feature=related– xrA&feature=related

B) Early Civil Rights Legislation In late 1950’s, Congress passed acts to enforce 15 Amendment. Civil Rights Act of 1957 – created the US Commission on Civil Rights – gave authority to Attorney General to seek federal court orders to prevent abuse of allowing people the right to vote Civil Rights Act of 1960 – created federal voting referees – help register and observe polling places Civil Rights Act of 1964 – ended discrimination in jobs, registering to vote (Title 9) Injunction – court order that either compels or restrains the performance of a private or public official. Can go to Jail, Prison, or fined. March on Selma Alabama – 3 murdered most beaten on TV – nation saw it. Voter registration drive.

C) Voting Rights act of 1965 Applied to all elections in the country Outlawed literacy tests Poll taxes Preclearance – no new election laws, and no changes in existing election laws, could go into effect in any states with problems, unless first approved by the Department of Justice – preclearance. Location of polling places, boundaries of election districts, deadlines, going from wards to at-large. Today, 6 states are still covered by Preclearance

Review Can people that cannot vote still influence lawmakers? Turn to page 169

Bell Ringer Turn to page 172. Lets read the cartoon. What does this cartoon suggest about voter apathy?

IV. Voter Behavior 5 options – 1) vote for A 2) Vote agaisnt A 3) Vote for B 4) Vote against B 5) Not vote

A) Nonvoting Word idiot comes from the Greeks over 2500 years ago as someone who does not vote – 228 million people who can vote – only 131 million did (60%), 121 million voted for Congress? 10 million? Off-year election – congressional elections held in between presidential election Ballot fatigue – voters exhaust their patience and their knowledge as they work there way down the ballot.

B) Why People Do Not Vote Cannot-Vote – illegal aliens, mental health, prison, religion, pressure Nonvoters – people who think everything is fine and the alienated ones – meaningless Political efficacy – lack any feeling of influence or effectiveness in politics – vote doesn’t count Time-zone fallout – west already know who won – don’t vote Lack of interest – good that they don’t vote.

C) Voters and Voting Behavior Political socialization – the process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions – life Voters personal characteristics – age, income voter’s group affiliation – family, friends

D) Sociological factors Gender – Women vote Democratic more than men Gender gap – difference between gender in partisan choices Race – African Americans vote heavily Democratic Age – Older vote Republican Income – over $60,000 vote Republican Education – Republican voting tends to rise with level of education Party Identification : D-39%,R-32%, I-29% Religion – Catholics and Jews vote Democratic Geography – South and Midwest are Republican – coast and big cities Democratic

E) Psychological factors Party identification – loyalty of people to a particular political party. Straight-ticket voting – vote all one party. Majority of Americans identify with party and seldom change no matter what. (going down) Split-ticket voting – voting for candidates of both parties Independents – people that have no party affiliation – usually vote same party though. New group of independents – education, good income, good job Candidates and Issues – some people actually vote on who the candidate is and what is there stance on issues.

Review