1. Chapter 4 – Voting and Elections

2. Learning Objectives
4.1 Explain the process of registering and voting in Texas
4.2 Assess how the expansion of franchise has impacted Texas politics
4.3 Evaluate how different factors affect voter turnout
4.4 Describe how candidates campaign in Texas
4.5 Analyze factors that influence election outcomes in Texas

3. Voting in Texas Registration National Voter Registration Act
Must register 30 days before an election
Requirements
US Citizen
Resident of the county where the individual intends to vote
18 years of age
National Voter Registration Act
Motor Voter Law: Register to vote when applying for driver’s license

4. Voting in Texas Types of Elections General Election Primary Elections
Nominees from different parties square off
Most media attention
Primary Elections
Each party selects its nominees
Open Primary: any registered voter can vote
Closed Primary: only voters registered with a party may vote for party candidates
Runoff Election
No candidate receives a majority, to two vote getters run again
Special Election
Fill vacancies created by death, resignation or removal

5. Voting in Texas Early Voting Mobile Voting Election Day
Two weeks before Election Day
Mobile Voting
Polling places move to different locations
Election Day
Straight Ticket Voting
voting for all candidates of a specific party
Split Ticket Voting
Choosing candidates from different parties for different offices
Neighborhood Precincts
Vote Centers

6. Suffrage Struggles and Their Consequences
Literacy Tests
Began in 1890
Abolished by Voting Rights Act 1965
Poll Tax
Tax to register to vote
Outlawed 1964 (federal) 1966 (state)
White Primary
Only whites could participate in the primary election
Hispanics
“ambiguous racial identity”
Counted for school integration but not political inclusion
1960s “awakening” of Hispanic voters
Single member districts

7. Suffrage Struggles and Their Consequences
African Americans
Texas Reconstruction Constitution extended full voting rights
Fifteenth Amendment: 1870 amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited the denial of voting rights on the basis of race
Voting Rights Act (1965) empowered
Women
Primary Elections vote won: 1918
General Election vote won: 1920
Asian Americans
Outsiders in politics
Right to vote won: 1943
Fastest growing minority group in Texas

8. Voter Turnout in Texas Why Texans Don’t Vote Social Pressure
Rational Voter
Political Efficacy
Social Pressure
Civic duty
Shame
Political Socialization
Process of acquiring political values and behaviors
Influences voting behavior

9. Voter Turnout in Texas How Can Voter Turnout Be Increased? Voter ID
For Convenience Sake
Why Tuesday?
Voter Targeting
We’re all in this together
I’m Asking for Your Vote
Thanks for voting
Your Ballot is Safe with Me
Materials in Spanish
Voter ID

10. How to Campaign Texas Style
Building Campaign Infrastructure
Image, Limelight, and the Media
Negative Campaigning
Courting the Base
Microtargeting
Surfing National Trends

11. How to Campaign Texas Style
Funding Elections
Money is the “mother’s milk” of politics
PACs and Super PACS
Organizations that collect donations from donors and use funds for candidates
Super PACS cannot give to candidates directly
Rules and Limits
Federal Election Campaign Act
Texas Ethics Commission
Few restrictions on Texas political giving

12. Who Wins and Why Money and Election Outcomes
Who Contributes
Who Donors Give to
Does Money Buy Influence
Parties and Straight Ticket Voting
Helps parties gain and maintain power
Incumbents and Voter Turnout
Incumbents likely to win general election with greater voter turnout
Challengers better chance of winning low-turnout primaries and runoffs

13. Who Wins and Why The Electoral System Will Texas Turn Blue
Candidates run in local districts or
Candidates run at-large
All citizens in a county can vote for candidate
Federal court decision required districts rather than at-large
Will Texas Turn Blue
Texas is a majority-minority state
Hispanics could tilt the state Democratic “blue”

14. Texas Takeaways
A Texas citizen must be registered to vote thirty days before an election.
Texas voters need a photo identification or provide a sworn statement of citizenship and non-photo proof of residency like a birth certificate, a utility bill, or a paystub or bank statement.
In an open primary, any qualified registered voter can vote in the primary for any party. In a closed primary, only voters registered with a party may vote in that party’s primary.
The poll tax, the white primary, and voter intimidation by certain people or groups are ways that Texas has disenfranchised minority voters.

15. Texas Takeaways
In 1965 Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination against racial minorities.
Approximately 85 percent of African Americans support the Democratic Party.
There are some who don’t vote because voting is time-consuming and difficult. There are others who don’t vote because they don’t see a benefit.
Voter turnout can be increased if the structure of voting is changed (having convenience voting), or with greater efforts to reach out to and educate voters.

16. Texas Takeaways
Negative advertising often demobilizes the electorate by decreasing political efficacy and reducing support for the candidate who is the target of the negativity
Federal regulations on campaigns were originally designed to limit the lopsided influence of wealthy individuals and interest groups in federal elections.
The top group were oil- and gas-related donors. The second group were lawyers and lobbyists.
Straight ticket voting generally helps parties gain and maintain power.