2.  Conducting Campaigns in the 21 st Century  Importance of the Media  Candidates’ public and private lives available for review and comment 24/7.  Not enough time to personally campaign in every county  Candidates need to raise large amounts of cash at local, state, and national levels. 2Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

3.  Conducting Campaigns in the 21 st Century  Importance of the Media  Television  Appearance and technique critical  Make use of sound bites  Radio  Older medium, not used as frequently  Internet  Low cost must be balanced with issues of the medium  Lots of access points 3Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

4.  Conducting Campaigns in the 21 st Century  Mudslide campaigns  Low ethics campaigning with avoidance of critical public issues  Negative campaigning 4Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

5.  Campaign Reform  Eliminating Negative Campaigning  The Markle Commission on the Media and the Electorate  Increasing Free Media Access  Need to pay for increased media formats has forced candidates to raise more money 5Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

6.  Campaign Finance  Political Action Committee (PAC) donations  Texas Campaign Finance Laws  Focus on disclosure not enforcement  Texas Ethics Commission  Created to monitor lobbyist and candidate campaigns  All candidates and lobbyist must register with TEC  Campaign Reform Act of 2002  House Bill 1606 6Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

7.  Latinos  Candidates began realizing potential of Latino vote  La Raza Unida Party  Issue of immigration reform  African Americans  Constitute 10 percent of state’s potential voters  80 percent of state’s African Americans of voting age support Democratic candidates 7Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

8.  History  Through 1990, only four women had held statewide public office.  In 2000, 2002, and 2006 women led all candidates on either ticket in votes received.  Expanded presence of women in public office is changing public policy.  Increased punishment for family violence and sexual abuse of children  Renewed focus on public education 8Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

9.  Obstacles to Voting  Universal suffrage 1960s  Literacy tests  Required constitutional-interpretation or citizenship knowledge  Grandfather clause  Exempted people from educational, property, or tax requirements for voting if qualified to vote before 1867, or were descendants of such persons  Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1915 9Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

10.  Obstacles to Voting  Poll tax  Texas required citizens to pay a tax to become eligible to vote  Abolished in 1964  All-white primaries  Prevented African Americans and some Latinos from voting  Declared unconstitutional in 1944  Racial gerrymandering  Packing and cracking  Diluting minority votes 10Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

11.  Democratization of the Ballot  Federal Voting Rights Legislation  Voting Rights Act of 1965  Abolished literacy tests  Prohibited residency requirements of more than 30 days  Required states to provide absentee ballot or early voting  Allows individuals and federal government to sue to request voting examiners  Requires bilingual ballots 11Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

12.  Democratization of the Ballot  Federal Voting Rights Legislation  National Voter Registration Act of 1993  “Motor voter law”  15 th Amendment – prohibits denial of voting rights because of race  19 th Amendment – prohibits denial of voting rights because of gender  24 th Amendment- Prohibits Poll Tax  26 th Amendment – set voting age at 18  Two Trends in Suffrage 12Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

13.  Voter Turnout  Texas’ voter turnout tends to be significantly lower than the rest of the nation  Attributed in part to lower percentage of eligible voters  Elections limited to two uniform dates  The second Saturday in May and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November  Education and income are influences  Texas ranks fourth in poverty  Gender, age, race, and ethnicity are also influences 13Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

14.  Administering Elections  Qualifications for Voting  Native-born or naturalized citizen  At least 18 years of age on election day  Resident of the state and county for 30 days preceding Election Day  Resident of the area covered on election day  Registered voter for at least 30 days preceding Election Day  Not a convicted felon (unless sentence, probation, and parole are completed)  Mentally competent 14Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

15.  Administering Elections  Voting Early  Early voting at the courthouse and selected locations before designated primary, special, and general elections for any reason  Vote by Mail  Vote by fax if in a combat zone  Vote online from space  Voting Precincts  Basic geographic area for conducting elections  Contains 100-2,000 registered voters 15Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

16.  Administering Elections  Election Officials  Voting Systems  Paper ballot, optical scan, or Direct-Record Electronic (touch screen)  English and Spanish 16Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

17.  Primaries  The development of direct primaries  Closed primary – must declare party affiliation  Open primary – does not require party identification  Top-two (jungle) primary – candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote wins 17Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

18.  Primaries ■Texas Primaries  Texas practices both an open and closed primary system ■ Declare party affiliation on day of primary and may only vote in that party’s primary for up to a year  Crossover voting ■ Vote in primaries of one party, then cross over to vote for the other party in the general election 18Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

19.  Texas Primaries  Administering primaries  Prospective  Candidates for statewide office file papers with their party’s state chair  Candidates for county office file with party’s county chair  Financing primaries  Paid by candidates’ filing fees, the state of Texas  Candidates may gather signatures in lieu of fees 19Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

20.  General and Special Elections  Presidential and congressional general elections  Midterm elections 20Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

21. 1. Analyze the components of a political campaign, specifically how the process of running and financing a campaign has changed over the years. 2. Describe the role that race and ethnicity play in politics, focusing on the importance of minority voters. 21Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning

22. 3. Explain the complexities of voting and how the voting process promotes, and inhibits, voter participation. 4. Identify the differences between primary, general, and special elections. 22Copyright © 2014 Cengage Learning