G OVERNMENT Mr. Rosenstock San Fernando High School 1

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3 There are 18.9 million (18,900,000) eligible voters in Texas Red = Republican Blue = Democrat

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Dan Patrick won with 65% of the vote Only 3.5% of all possible voters voted Or 570,500 of 18,900,000 6

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David Alameel won his party’s nomination for US Senate However less than 1% of eligible voters voted… Or 145,000 8

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IDIOTS: GREEK TERM FOR THOSE WHO DON’T VOTE 227,431,000 Number of eligible voters 146,311,000 Number of registered voters Only 64% of Americans who can vote, register. …and that doesn’t mean they actually vote… 57.5% Turnout of voting age population for the 2012 Presidential Election 17,775,077 Eligible voters: California (as of ,452,930 Number in CA who actually voted… 42% Overall 49% White 28% Latino 8.2% yrs of age 10

W HY N EARLY 90 M ILLION D ON ’ T V OTE  At least 18 million legal non citizens. Remember they are barred from voting in all states  Average of 5 million are too ill to vote  Some 500,000 in mental health facilities  About 100,000 who don’t (cannot) because of religious beliefs  Some 2.2 million adults incarcerated in prisons and jails Three main reasons: A. Things in country going well and will continue regardless of who wins… B. Alienation. People who fear/distrust the system and institutions. Elections are meaningless/choice-less exercises. C. Those with lack of political efficacy: their vote doesn’t matter/ affect anything “Cannot Voters”Actual Non Voters 11

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C OMPARING V OTERS AND N ON V OTERS Most likely voters have: High level of income Education Occupational status Integrated into community Strong sense of party ID/ beliefs Believe that voting is an important act Most non voters have: Younger than 35yrs Unmarried Unskilled Live in the South Live in rural areas Male Lack of political efficacy VotersNon Voters 13

S OCIOLOGICAL F ACTORS : ( REMEMBER EACH VOTER POSSESSES SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS ) Income: Voters in lower income brackets less likely to vote More likely to vote Democratic Voters in high income brackets more likely to vote More likely to vote Republican Occupation: “Blue Collar” workers (think construction, truck driving, plumbers, electricians, beauticians etc) tend to vote Democratic. Less likely to vote “White Collar” (doctors, lawyers, bankers, accountants etc) professionals tend to vote Republican. More likely to vote 14

Education: College Educated: More likely to vote More likely to vote Republican High School Educated: Less likely to vote than College Educated More likely to vote Democratic Elementary Education: Less likely to vote than High School educated More likely to vote Democratic 15

Age: Older people more likely to vote than younger people More likely to vote Republican Younger people less likely to vote More likely to vote Democratic Gender: Men less likely to vote than women More likely to vote Republican Women more likely to vote than men More likely to vote Democratic Men/Women: more likely to differ on issues: abortion, healthcare, social issues and the military 16

Religion: Protestants (all Christians who aren’t Catholic) tend to favor the Republican Party. Catholics, Jews and Muslims more often vote Democratic 17

18 Ethnicity: African-Americans have historically and overwhelmingly voted Democratic since the mid 1930s The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s increased the Activism and support of Blacks throughout the South

19 Latinos are the largest growing ethnic group in the US and historically favor the Democratic Party However, Cuban Americans (mostly in Florida) tend to be more conservative and vote Republican Members of the Brown Berets (LA, 1970)

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Geography: Where you live influences how you vote: the South, rural areas, much of the Midwest, smaller towns and suburban America tend to vote Republican. As do states in the Northeast like Maine and Vermont. Big cities in the North and East, and urban areas in general usually favor the Democrats. 21

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