1. PowerPoint #3 Voting
Government
Unit 2

2. Essential Question:
You will be eligible to vote in the next presidential election. What do you think will influence your vote the most? Explain

3. History of Voting Rights
The Constitution gave the states the right to set suffrage requirements but it has been increasingly controlled by the federal government through ratification of Constitutional Amendments and other federal legislation

4. Who Could Vote?
– When the Constitution was ratified only white, male, property owners could vote.
Restrictions also included religious tests, tax payment, and others.

5. Whites and Blacks
– Religious, property, and tax requirements gradually eliminated by the states – by 1850 almost all white males could vote.
1870 – 15th Amendment ratified protecting the right to vote from being denied on the basis of race or color.
Barriers to this were put in place for those who wanted to deny Blacks the right to vote:
threats of violence and job loss
literacy tests
poll taxes
grandfather clauses

6. Voting Rights for Women
1920 – 19th Amendment was ratified prohibiting the denial of the right to vote on the basis of sex.
By 1920, approximately half the states had already given the right to vote in state and local elections to women.
Wyoming was the 1st in 1869.

7. Voting Rights “Loop Holes” Closed
1960’s – Voting Right’s Act of helped to ensure voting rights for African Americans
23rd Amendment ratified in gives electoral votes to District of Columbia
24th Amendment ratified in eliminated the poll tax (or any other taxes) as a condition for voting.
President Johnson with Martin Luther King Jr.

8. Age Requirement Lowered
1971 – 26th Amendment ratified extending the right to vote to 18 year olds (previously it was 21 years)
Why did they lower the voting age?
Over 600,000 young men (18 and up) had been drafted to fight in Vietnam
Many felt they should be able to vote if they were being asked to die for their country.

9. Voting Requirements
Citizenship – you must be a citizen to vote; natural born or naturalized. Some states have a waiting period – must be a citizen for a period of time before allowed to vote.
Residence – you must be a legal resident of the state in which you vote – usually a waiting period applies approximanty 30 days.
New citizens swearing in

10. Other Voting Requirements
Age – as per the 26th amendment, no state can set the minimum age to vote higher than 18.
Registration – all states (except North Dakota) requires registration to identify legal voters and gather information about party id, age, address, etc.
People who are denied the right to vote:
dishonorably discharged from military
some convicted felons
non-citizens
Insane

11. Demographics of Voters

12. Income and Education Income/Occupation
Higher income tend to vote Republican
Lower income tend to vote Democrat
Education:
Higher educated tend to vote Republican
Lower educated tend to vote Democrat

13. http://www. truthjustice

14. Gender and Age Gender Higher percentage of women vote Democrat
Higher percentage of men vote Republican
Age:
Younger tend to vote Democrat
Older tend to vote Republican

16. Religious Background Religious Christians tend to vote Republican
White Catholics 60% vote – Republican (2016)
Hispanic Catholics, 67% voted - Democrat (2016)

17. Ethnic Background Minority groups tend to vote Democrat
Whites tend to vote Republican

18. Geography & Family/Peer Groups
South used to be strong Democrat
Now the South is more Republican
Urban areas tend to be Democrat
Rural areas tend to be Republican
Family/Peer Groups
2/3 of voters follow their parents political party
9/10 of married couples vote alike
people tend to vote along with their friends

19. Influences on Voters
Party Identification – most important predictor of voting regardless of issues/candidates
Straight ticket voting (voting with party affiliation)
Long-term factor (rarely changes)

20. Influences on Voters
Candidates/Issues – short term factors that can cause people to “cross-over” vote or split-ticket vote.
Cross- Pressured Voters – caught between conflicting issues in their life (religion, social economic status, peers)

21. What the Heck??!!!!!
Many democrats are wondering how they could have lost the 2016 presidential election to someone with such high unfavorably ratings
Watch the following video and complete the answers on the worksheet

22. Voter Behavior Turnout is highest in Presidential election years
Decreases in off-year elections and local races.
People who vote tend to:
believe that voting is important
Believe that their vote counts
have a relatively strong party affiliation
are “settled” into their community
higher social economic status
higher education
higher income
have better jobs
are over 35
are married

23. What Percent of Eligible Voters Voted in 2016?
40% did not vote – 92,671,976

24. Non-Voters
An increasing problem that can threaten the basis of our democracy.
Many choose not to vote because…
don’t trust the government
think their vote “doesn’t count”
don’t like the candidates
are turned off by negative campaigning
have a lack of interest or knowledge
have an illness/physical limitation
religious beliefs
weather conditions
difficulty in registration
Apathy

25. Essential Question:
You will be eligible to vote in the next presidential election. What do you think will influence your vote the most? Explain