1. CH 6 Voters and Voter Behavior

2. Copy: Voting is crucial to a democratic society. It is a right guaranteed to anyone in the US who is a citizen and 18 years old.

3. Suffrage 148 the right to vote. Electorate 148 Those Americans eligible to vote, registered or not.

4. registration 154 Procedure of voter identification to prevent voter fraud. One must be registered in order to vote. Placed on a list Done by party preference

5. Literacy 156 Ability to read and write. – Once used as a criteria for voter eligibility. The Right to Vote

6. Copy: People elect representatives to make their laws. The number of representatives depends on population in a region. Drawing the regions can be done effectively for good or bad.

7. gerrymandering 159 Questionable practice of drawing electoral district lines. To set boundaries for people a political official will represent. Done to limit or strengthen the support of a party or group. Redistricting is done after the US census is done (every 10 years).

8. Preclearance 164 Federal approval of state and local laws that guarantee fair and equal: – Poll location – Boundaries of election districts – Deadlines in the election process – Elections from ward to district to at-large.

9. Copy: A voter’s behavior is his/her own. It develops from needs, relationships, and experiences.

10. Voter Behavior 164 Off-year election Held in even-numbered years between presidential elections. – AKA: midterm elections

11. Political efficacy 166 Voter’s feeling of influence or effectiveness in their act of voting. Political socialization Process by which people gain or learn their political attitudes and opinions. Voter Behavior

12. Gender gap 169 difference in male and female voting trends. Party identification 171 loyalty of a voter to a particular political party. Straight-ticket voting 171 A voter only supports candidates or issues of his/her own party. Voter Behavior

13. EC: Split-ticket voting 171 a voter supports candidates or issues of different parties, not just their own party. Independent 171 any voter who has no party affiliation. Voter Behavior

14. Presidential Election, 2012 Solid GOP Solid Dem Which states should a GOP candidate concentrate on? Which states should a Dem candidate concentrate on? Which states must both candidates battle it out over?

15. Hwk Concepts, Class Work, to Know

16. EC: Describe two long-term trends that have characterized the history of suffrage in the United States (2) – 148 Gradual elimination of voting restrictions – Expansion of Federal government’s control over voting The Right to Vote Concepts: Ch 6, pp. 148-175

17. Describe the five distinct stages in the growth of the American electorate (5) – 148 early 1800s, removed religious, property, and tax payment qualifications – Post-Civil War: universal male suffrage – 1920: Women’s suffrage – 1960s: Civil Rights Acts; 23rd and 24th Amendments: end poll taxes, and allow District of Columbia to vote – 26th Amendment: extends voting age to 18. EC: The Right to Vote

18. What restrictions does the Constitution place on the States in setting suffrage qualifications? (3) – 148 voters must be able to vote in all elections – No discrimination by race, sex, age (18+) – No taxes as voter qualification. EC: The Right to Vote

19. EC: Voter Qualifications Why do most states require voter registration? (2) – 152 prevents fraud – determines eligibility in closed primaries

20. Why do election officials have poll books? – 152 keep track of all registered voters Why are poll books purged? – 152 keep the books current: eliminate voters who have moved or passed away, felons. EC: Voter Qualifications

21. Why were poll taxes declared unconstitutional by SCOTUS? – 152 only allowed wealthy to vote – Discriminated against African Americans EC: Voter Qualifications

22. What is gerrymandering? – 159 drawing electoral districts to favor a particular party EC: Suffrage and Civil Rights

23. EC: Suffrage and Civil Rights (5) What voting devices were used to disenfranchise African-Americans? – 159 – gerrymandering – Violence – Social pressures – Literacy tests – Poll taxes

24. Images: 146: compare to modern campaigning No technology, only voice Still involves travelling long distances The Right to Vote

25. Images: 154: questions A. Though he has specific opinions about government and politicians, he feels his vote won’t make a difference. B. That such attitudes are part of the problem. Voter Qualifications

26. Images: 155: interpret the graph a, b, –A–A – 10 percent wore a button or put a sticker on their car; – 8 percent gave money – 4 percent worked in a campaign or for a candidate. – B: – make sure your answer is supported by the graph. + what do the last two categories say about people caring about the outcome? discussion. Voter Qualifications

27. Images: 156: questions, + what do you think many Jim Crow states did to avoid the issue? They disqualified White, male voters. EC: Voter Qualifications

28. Images: 157: question Discourages people who might feel they would fill out the application incorrectly Frightens people who might not want their names to appear in the newspapers. Voter Qualifications

29. Images: 158: question, That voter apathy is just as dangerous as a dictatorship. + is there really a problem with the US voting system? Explain. Voter Qualifications

30. Images: 161: questions 1. 15 th, 19 th, 26 th amendments General trend has been toward a more democratic (popular) system. 162: question. About 1.7 million new African American voters registered. Voter Behavior

31. EC: Voter Behavior (10) List sociological factors that affect political behavior – 164 income – Occupation – Education – Gender (orientation) – Age – Religion – Ethnic background – Geography – Family – Peer groups

32. 165: questions 1968 166: question Nonvoters outweigh the voters Suggest their refusal to vote has a huge impact on elections. Voter Behavior

33. 167: question Nonwhites, who have consistently voted Democratic. Voter Behavior

34. Gerrymandering 270 Map, question Neither party wants to lose seats in Congress as a result of combining districts.

35. Look at the image on this slide. What percentage of voters turned out for the presidential election in 1964? In 1988? – Ans: 61.9 percent, 50.1 percent Which year shows the greatest difference between voter turnout for presidential elections versus non- presidential elections? – 1984 EC: Voter Behavior

36. Look at the image on this slide. What percentage of voters turned out for the presidential election and the non-presidential election in 1976? – presidential, – 53.5 percent; – non-presidential, – 34.9 percent

37. You are working on a committee to examine whether 16- year-olds in your State should vote. Make up three to five questions that you would ask 16-year-olds to determine if they should gain the right to vote. – Do you read the newspaper, read blogs or Internet sources, or listen to/watch news about state, national, and world events? – What is your opinion of our current President? – What is your opinion of our current Congress? – Are you concerned about having the right to vote? – Would you vote in the next general elections if given the opportunity to do so, and why? Electoral Process

38. What was Benjamin Franklin suggesting about the government when he said that a man whose only property was a jackass would lose his right to vote if the jackass died? – Franklin may have been suggesting that the government was biased toward property owners and that such a bias was unfair because property ownership in no way makes a person more qualified to vote. – One’s rights stay with them all their life. Electoral Process

39. Why is the issue of voter rights so important in the United States? – If the United States is to remain a true democracy, the voting rights of all people must be secured and guaranteed. Otherwise, certain groups will not find representation in government and will not be able to take part by holding public office. Because the Constitution did not establish voter rights for all groups, subsequent government actions had to be taken to do so. Electoral Process