4. The American Electorate : Voters and Voter Behavior

5. Important Terms Suffrage- The right to vote.
Electorate- The potential voting
population.
Civil right- A right everybody has.
Political right- A right you receive when you meet certain requirements.

6. Voting Rights Voting is a political right not a civil right.
The right to vote is, however, protected by the Constitution.

7. Those who are eligible to vote in the United States has changed over the last 200 plus years.

8. Two trends are responsible for the increase in the electorate.
1. The elimination of certain requirements to vote. (religion, property ownership, race, gender, and age)
2. The Federal Government gaining more power over the right to vote.

9. The Five Historical Stages of Voting
1. The end of religious qualifications(1810) and property ownership(by mid 1820s).(all white males can vote)
2. The 15th Amendment (all African-American males can vote).
3. The 19th Amendment (all women can vote).
4 .The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (all African-Americans could use their vote).
5. The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18. (18,19,20 yr. olds can vote)

10. Voting Qualifications
The Constitution gives the right to establish voting qualifications to the States. (with restrictions)
 These restrictions were added over time as the Constitution was Amended.

11. Reasons for Early Restrictions
Early on the elite feared the possibility of the average person to make such an important decision.
Racial Hatred
Sexism
Age- too young to make such an important decision.
The American electorate is larger than
at any point in the history of our country.

12. Qualifications for the Electorate
All 50 states require voters to meet three standards.
1.citizenship residence 3. age
Other state requirements may include one or more of the following, at one time or another.
Registration- 30 days prior to the election.
(No longer in Practice)
Literacy- the ability to read and write.
Tax Payment- you must own property to vote.
Poll Tax- you had to pay a fee to vote.

13. Disqualifications from the Electorate
Who can be prevented from voting?
Residents of mental institutions.
People declared mentally incompetent by the courts.
People convicted of serious crimes.
Prison inmates.
Some States
5. Dishonorably discharged military.

14. Civil Rights and Voting
The 15th Amendment gave African-American males the right to vote in 1870.
Yet the gap between these constitutional words and their implementation remained wide for almost a century.

15. Examples of methods used to prevent African-Americans from voting.
literacy tests
grandfather clauses
poll taxes
white primaries

16. The Civil Rights movement put suffrage high on its’ political agenda, and one by one, the barriers to African-Americans voting fell.

17. Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960
Civil Rights Act of this law set up the Civil Rights Commission, its’ duties included checking into claims of voter discrimination.
Civil Rights Act of this law provided for the appointment of federal voting referees.
( these referees had the power to help qualified people to register to vote in federal elections.) 

18. Civil Rights Act of 1964
This law made racial discrimination against any group in hotel, motel, or restaurants illegal. It also forbids the use of any registration requirement in an unfair or discriminatory manner.( Use judicial action to overcome racial barriers) 

19. The Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of the main focus of this law was to insure all people that have the right to vote can use their right to vote. No unnecessary limits could be placed on someone in order to vote.
It was extended with amendments in 1970,1975,1982,1992, and in 2007.
The Act sent federal election registrars to states and counties that had long histories of discrimination.
This resulted in hundreds of thousands of blacks being registered to vote in the south. The effects were swift and certain. In 1965, only 70 blacks held office in 11 southern states. Today thousands of blacks hold a variety of offices throughout the south.

20. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Results
African-American voter turnout 
% %
 The increase in African-American voter turnout was higher than the overall turnout was in 1972.

22. The Nonvoters The Nonvoters Who are they and why don’t they vote ?
A Nonvoter is a person who has the right to vote, but for whatever reason chooses not to.
The Nonvoter is usually a “have not”.
(the less advantaged)

23. *Voting has become a class-biased activity.
Higher income Higher voting
Lower income Lower voting
Many nonvoters feel they have no stake in the election so they don’t vote.
Many nonvoters believe it makes no difference who wins.
Others are happy with whoever is in office.
Many nonvoters have a lack of interest or just don’t care.

24. Cannot Voter
A Cannot- Voter is a person who has the right to vote, but for some reason is unable to vote.
5-6 million too ill or physically handicapped
to get to the polls and vote.
2-3 million people traveling suddenly or unexpectedly.

25. The right to vote was HARD TO GET but EASY TO WASTE!!!!!
To Vote or Not to Vote
In the two centuries plus of American elections, we have greatly expanded suffrage.
Women, minorities, and young people have been brought into the electoral fold.
As the right to vote has been extended to more and more Americans, proportionately fewer of those eligible have chosen to exercise that right.
The right to vote was HARD TO GET but EASY TO WASTE!!!!!

26. In comparison with citizens of other nations, Americans are poor participators in elections
Because of certain factors, voter turnout should have increased, but it hasn’t.
Factors include
More money is spent to court voters.
Technology has made it easier to reach voters.
Americans are better educated than ever.

27. Voting Behavior
Millions of Americans do vote. Why do they vote and why do they vote for certain candidates?

28. Sources of Voter Behavior Information
Three sources have given us information about voter behavior. 1. Election results. 2. Polling (surveys). 3. Studies of Political Socialization. Political Socialization is the process by which we gain our political beliefs and attitudes.

29. Two Major Factors that affect Voter Behavior
1. Sociological Factors
2. Psychological Factors

30. Sociological Factors 1. Income 2. Occupation 3. Education
4. Gender 5. Age Geography
7.Race Ethnicity Religion
10.Family 11. Friends

31. Psychological Factors
How the voters see and how they react to the party’s candidates, and issues in an election.
Party Identification (long term)
Straight-ticket voting
Split-ticket voting
Independents
Candidates and Issues (short term)
Match between voters’ policy positions and those of the candidates and parties.
(This is called policy voting)
Ex: Pro-Life / Pro-Choice

32. Voters Are Becoming Unpredictable