2. All states require: 1. Citizenship (any state could allow aliens to vote but none do) 2. Residence- one must be a legal resident (usually for a period of years) in the state in which they cast a ballot - colleges. Most states do not allow out-of-state college students to vote in their state, a few do 3. 18 years old (in Constitution)(26 th amendment)

3.  Registration: 49 states (minus North Dakota) require voters to be registered to prevent fraudulent voting  No longer is there a literacy requirement  No longer is there a poll tax  Most states do not allow those in mental institutions, those found mentally incompetent, or felons to vote  A few states do not allow those dishonorably charged from the armed forces to vote

4.  15 th Amendment- all races allowed to vote  19 th - Women allowed to vote  Civil Rights Act of 1964- outlaws discrimination in job matters, forbid literacy tests  Harper v. Board of Elections- eliminated poll taxes

5.  idiotes: Greek word for those who do not vote or participate in political life  There are some legitimate reasons why some people can’t vote, but the majority of Americans who don’t vote can  Scope of problem: In 2000 only 51% of the eligible population voted in the Presidential election and only 46% voted for U.S. representative  Off-year elections have a very poor turnout (33%)

6.  “Cannot-Voters”:ill, disabled, traveling, religion  Why do others not vote? Don’t believe their vote really counts Satisfied with political world and believe things will continue to go well Distrust of all politicians(believe special interests and money have taken over) “time-zone” fallout: people in the West believe election is already won Apathetic lazy

8. VOTERSNONVOTERS  Higher levels of income  Higher levels of education  Long-time residents  Strong party identification  Women vote more frequently than men * The more close an election is the higher the voter turnout  Lower income  Lower education  Younger than 35  Unmarried  More non-voters live in South or rural areas than other regions or urban areas